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US bombers destroy key targets
America revealed last night that supersonic bombers armed with laser-guided missiles had struck at Iraqi targets, destroying strategic radar sites in the first military precursor to all-out war.
Do we have any bomber/attack fighter other than the A-10 that isn't supersonic?
Two US Air Force B-1 bombers knocked out truck-mounted anti-aircraft radar systems designed to alert Iraq to attack by British and American aircraft. There was no news of casualties. Amid heightened tensions in the region as allied military leaders declared they were ready for battle and a defiant Saddam Hussein made faces vowed to repel any attack, the use of heavy bombers prompted claims that the US had effectively already begun war against Iraqi targets.
Just giving the Lancer boys a little work out, that's all.
However, with time running out for a diplomatic solution ahead of talks today between the United States, Britain and Spain, a source close to the Iraqi leader last night claimed that thousands of suicide bombers had been trained to 'kill Americans and sacrifice themselves' if any invasion is attempted. The source, a senior thug member of Saddam's ruling Revolutionary Council, told The Observer that they believed they could stop any allied advance by inflicting such high casualties that troops would be forced to pause while a political solution was found. He also revealed that Iraq's government planned to go underground and continue its fight after an attack.
We can help with the underground part.
'The US thinks it will come and find a general surrounded by bodyguards, but we are not stupid,' said the official. 'There are hundreds, even thousands, of places to hide in Iraq.'
The Iraqi people will point them out to us.
The source added: 'They can enter the cities but they cannot stay. The Americans are deceiving themselves if they think that the fighting will be short. We can kill them. They will destroy much in Iraq, but we are preparing thousands of people as suicide bombers.'
| Nothing quite so unreliable as an unwilling suicide bomber... |
The American bombers hit a mobile anti-aircraft radar system near a military air base in western Iraq, according to the Washington Post. The other target was a 'Pluto' surveillance radar system that was operating where the borders of Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia meet. With reports of unrest in the north of Iraq and the rounding up of young Kurdish men for burning a portrait of Saddam, the attacks on border radar systems were being seen as the precursor for an imminent invasion of Iraq. The attack on the truck-mounted radar system was seen as an attempt to hold the strategically important 600-mile road from Amman in Jordan to Baghdad - a key target of US and British troops. The attacks appeared to mark the first action against targets destined to be taken in the opening hours of the war. The use of heavy bombers came as Pentagon sources indicated that US and British aircraft were flying up to 1,000 sorties as part of the psychological war on Iraqi troops. Several thousand US troops have been brought into Jordan for special forces operations across the border, many of them with Pave Low helicopters flown in on Galaxy transports that have been seen arriving at a military air base near Amman. According to Pentagon sources, the first moves in any campaign are expected to involve inserting special operations troops from Jordan or Saudi Arabia into western Iraq, where they could observe suspected launch sites and call in air strikes. But Saddam's thug adviser warned that it would not be an easy war for the United States and Britain: 'It will be like 10 Vietnams. Iraqis are fighting for their families. American soldiers are fighting for their salaries.'
Every news report from the exiles and the people on the Iraqi street says they want Saddam gone. Hmmm, who to believe?
The regime also believes that it has made a strong case at the point of a rifle to the people of Iraq that it has done everything possible to co-opt co-operate with the UN inspectors and that the American attack is unjustified. 'The government has convinced the people that it has done everything to stop the war,' he said. 'This is America's golden age, but if the Americans act alone, it will lose Europe and start a new cold war.' Although the official believed that there was a 60 to 70 per cent chance that the war would begin in a few days, the regime is still counting on God, the French and the Russians to make their case.
Heh, counting on the French.
'We trust in Paris and Moscow,' said the President's adviser. 'But there is a saying in Iraq - with the first shot, Saddam will be dead cowardice is over and courage fills the soul. We believe this attack will happen - at the same time, we hope God will stop the war.' Evidence emerged yesterday that an allied advance would prompt a wave of defections. Senior militia commanders in the north of Iraq said they had received hundreds of letters from Iraqi soldiers and officials in response to an amnesty offer by Kurdish leaders.
Yep, fighting for their families.
'The letters are coming from tribal leaders, the Republican Guard, even the Mukhabarat,' said Mohammed Haji Mahmood, a senior Kurdish commander. 'However, defectors from the Republican Guard said that their former units would fight because they have no choice'. The regular army would surrender as soon as possible, the defectors said. In the Middle East, preparations for war continued. Eight US warships passed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea yesterday to join the military build-up, following five ships that passed through on Friday.
Missile shooters are already in the Red Sea. Which ones are these eight?
Posted by: Steve White 2003-03-16 |
