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| Iraq | |||
| Allies bomb key Iraqi targets | |||
| 2003-03-03 | |||
| Britain and the United States have all but fired the first shots of the second Gulf war by dramatically extending the range of targets in the "no-fly zones" over Iraq to soften up the country for an allied ground invasion. As Baghdad threatened to stop destroying its Samoud 2 missiles if the US presses ahead with its invasion plans, allied pilots have attacked surface-to-surface missile systems and are understood to have hit multiple-launch rockets. Targets hit in recent days include the Ababil-100, a Soviet-designed surface-to-air missile system adapted to hit targets on the ground, and the Astros 2 ground rocket launcher with a range of up to 56 miles. These would be used to defend Iraq in the event of an invasion or to attack allied troops stationed in Kuwait. The latter is the reason they're getting hit now. Britain and the US insist publicly that the rules for enforcing the no-fly zones over the north and south of Iraq have not changed — that pilots only open fire if they are targeted. But privately defence officials admit that there has been an aggressive upping of the ante in recent weeks to weaken Iraqi defences ahead of a ground invasion. Analysts confirm there has been an intensification of what is known as "the undeclared war". The allied action will prompt allegations that Britain and the US have unilaterally changed the rules of the no-fly zones. These zones were established after the last Gulf war to protect Shias in the south and Kurds in the north.
Which could also be used against the Kurds and Shi'a, just in case we need any justification. Loren Thompson, a defence analyst with the US Lexington Institute, told Reuters: "The US military is taking advantage of the no-fly zones to prepare the battle space for war. There's been a sporadic war occurring in the air over Iraq for a dozen years now. This merely ratchets up the intensity."
Sammy's not keen on destroying these anyway, so this is as good a pretext as any. Speaking after the destruction of 10 missiles over the weekend, Saddam Hussein's scientific adviser, Lieutenant General Amer al-Saadi, said: "If it turns out at an early stage during this month that America is not going the legal way, then why should we continue?" This is like a mafioso complaining about his rights being violated. The intensification of the attacks in the no-fly zones appears to show that Britain and the US are determined to follow the military route, despite the continuing debate at the United Nations. The bombing is likely to cause renewed tension with We've decided that it's necessary, so now the preparations are necessary.
Hmmm, wonder what he thinks the current count is? Figures released by the US central command show that British and US aircraft have stepped up their bombing over the past few weeks. This year alone they have attacked Iraqi targets more than 40 times. In the past week, they have attacked Iraqi targets three times. On Thursday they attacked a missile site and communications system near Basra. On Friday they bombed three mobile air defence early warning radars and a surface-to-air missile system near An Nasiriyah, approximately 170 miles southwest of Baghdad. On Saturday, British and US aircraft attacked military communication sites and a mobile radar in the same location. Sammy's losing a lot of hardware. Wonder how much of this can be replaced? Last month British and US aircraft attacked the Ababil-100 missile site near Basra, where surface-to-air missiles adapted to hit ground targets were located, according to US central command. The US says that they bombed the targets in response to the Iraqis moving the missiles and air defence below the 33rd parallel marking the northern end of the southern no-fly zone. | |||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 9:45AM - the Nimitz just pulled away - good sailing and safe trip |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-03-03 11:56:32 |
| #4 Well, there's another explanation, and that is perhaps we are not destroying what we think we are destroying. Beyond just hangar queens. During the campaign in the former yugoslavia we conducted some quite heavy bombing runs. However, once we actually got in on the ground to take a look we realized that milosovic and his military had conducted a successful deception campaign to our air assets and we did not actually destroy a whole lot of anything important. we also know that iraq had "advisors" in the former yugoslavia at the time. The reports of the trenches around baghdad that are to be filled with oil and burned are pure yugo tactics. So perhaps some of saddam's cockyness comes from the fact that he knows something most of us don't we are not bombing anything really important anyway. -DS "the horns hold up the Halo" |
| Posted by: DeviantSaint 2003-03-03 10:47:35 |
| #3 Hanger Queens? LOL that is a very true Air Force statement that I recognize.... As a HH-60 Pave Hawk crew Chief with 3 days left here in Korea a.k.a. the Sea Of Fire. I'm ready to ROLL |
| Posted by: Bobbing4Kittens 2003-03-03 09:43:21 |
| #2 Supposedly they did another 7 today - all the while threatening to quit if the U.S. still prepared for war. Sammy doesn't understand that it isn't a Catch-22 if we don't play along |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-03-03 09:32:00 |
| #1 Turning a surface-to-air missle into a surface-to-surface missle? That's an odd one. So far the Iraqis claim they've destroyed ten missles. Do you suppose they had ten laying around that weren't working, hanger queens, that they could spare for crushing? |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-03-03 08:11:21 |