Sorry kids. This was reported in the London Telegraph...http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

100 jets join attack on Iraq

By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 06/09/2002)


About 100 American and British aircraft took part in an attack on Iraq's major western air defence installation yesterday in the biggest single operation over the country for four years.

The raid appeared to be a prelude to the type of special forces operations that would have to begin weeks before a possible American-led war. It was launched two days before a war summit between President George W Bush and Tony Blair in America
The Prime Minister promised that Britain would be alongside the Americans "when the shooting starts".
The raid seemed designed to destroy air defences to allow easy access for special forces helicopters to fly into Iraq via Jordan or Saudi Arabia to hunt down Scud missiles before a possible war within the next few months.
Although only 12 aircraft dropped precision-guided bombs on to the H3 airfield, 240 miles west of Baghdad and close to Jordan, many support aircraft took part.
The strikes were carried out by nine American F15 Strike Eagles and three RAF Tornado GR4 ground attack aircraft flying from Kuwait.
At least seven types of aircraft took part. Fighter cover was provided by US F-16 Fighting Falcons and RAF Tornado F3s from Saudi Arabia. RAF VC10 tanker aircraft flying from Bahrain were among the support aircraft.
These also included EA6b Prowlers, which send out signals to confuse enemy radar, and E3a Awacs aircraft that co-ordinate operations and carry out reconnaissance of any response.
RAF Tornados also took part in the reconnaissance. American central command refused to go into detail about the number of aircraft involved in the raid.
It said: "Coalition strikes in the no-fly zones are executed as a self-defence measure in response to Iraqi hostile threats and acts against coalition forces and their aircraft."
The Pentagon said that the raid was launched in "response to recent Iraqi hostile acts against coalition aircraft monitoring the southern no-fly zone".
Iraq had made 130 attempts to shoot down coalition aircraft this year.
The Ministry of Defence in London refused to confirm that RAF aircraft had taken part, but defence sources said that Tornado ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft played a key role. The attack on what the American central command described as an "air defence command and control facility" was the first time that a target in western Iraq had been attacked during the patrols of the southern no-fly zone.
Until yesterday, all strikes had been against air defence sites in the south, around Basra, Amara, Nassairya and Baghdad.
Central command said it was still assessing the damage caused by the attack. If the air defence installation was not destroyed, a second raid is expected.
As well as blinding Iraqi radar to any special forces helicopters, the loss of the H3 installation would allow allied aircraft mounting major raids on Iraq a trouble-free route into the country.
In a further sign that America was preparing for war, a Pentagon official confirmed that heavy armour, ammunition and other equipment had been moved to Kuwait from huge stores in Qatar.
Thomas White, the army secretary, said: "We have done a lot with pre-positioned stocks in the Gulf, making sure that they are in the right spot to support whatever the president wants to do."
Any war on Iraq is likely to begin with a gradual intensification of attacks on air defences. But yesterday's raid appears more likely to be related to the special forces Scud hunts.
It was the SAS which specialised in the attempts to hunt down the Scuds during the Gulf war. Although the raids were largely unsuccessful, they spawned a series of rival books by former members of the regiment.
Mr Bush, speaking in Louisville, Kentucky, said that, besides having talks with Mr Blair, he would be meeting the leaders of France, Russia, China and Canada over the next few days. He would tell them that "history has called us into action" to oust Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq.
He said he was looking forward to the talks, but suggested that the US could do the job on its own if need be.
"I am a patient man," he said. "I've got tools; we've got tools at our disposal. We cannot let the world's worst leaders blackmail, threaten, hold freedom-loving nations hostage with the world's worst weapons."

I have a bad feeling that the shit is about to hit the fan.I hope i'm wrong

WTF?


Already? Nah..something's fishy here.

It is an interesting report for the fact it wasn't in the American Press, which is scary. These attacks are pretty much a prelude to the inevitable, which should come to no surprise since Iraq has been a problem for awhile -- the U.N. inspectors were thrown out years ago. Here is another report from The Guardian today...



The Guardian (London) September 7, 2002

Air strikes on Iraq rise sharply: Strategy Increase seen as preparation for winter attack

BYLINE: Julian Borger in Washington

There has been a sharp increase in the number of US-British air raids on Iraqi air defences over recent months in what military analysts said could be preparations for a possible attack this winter.

According to the Pentagon, the latest air strikes on Thursday targeted a command centre about 180 miles southwest of Baghdad that coordinated air defences for the whole of western Iraq. But the US military denied reports quoting British defence sources as saying that it had been the largest allied air raid in four years. Brigadier General John Rosa, the deputy operations director for the joint chiefs of staff, said that "12 airplanes dropped 25 weapons" on the target.

"We've done that for the last 10 or 11 years and we'll continue to do that," he added.

Iraqi state radio confirmed the attack but said the target had been "civil and service installations", near the western town of al-Rutbah.

"Our courageous anti-aircraft units confronted the jets and forced them to leave Iraqi skies," an Iraqi military spokesman said.

US navy Lieutenant Dan Hetlage said the strike "was typical of 25 strikes we've had this year." He said that about a dozen warplanes had dropped bombs on the target, accompanied by support planes.

Lt Hetlage said it was not Pentagon policy to provide numbers of aircraft involved in operations but he said the total fell well short of the 100 mentioned in British reports.

Nevertheless, there has been a clear increase in the frequency of air strikes on Iraq in recent months in marked contrast to the sharp decline that followed the September 11 attacks.

In August, US and British planes enforcing the no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq carried out nine missile and bomb attacks against air-defence targets, the highest strike rate since May 2000. The Pentagon said that each strike had been launched in response to a threat posed to allied aircraft, often in the form of radar tracking by Iraqi air defence units.

Patrick Garrett, an analyst at GlobalSecurity.org, a military thinktank in Washington, said: "There's been a very obvious pick-up in the number of strikes."

Mr Garrett said that US and British air power had been diverted to Afghanistan after last September and only now was being focused back on Iraq.

So far the number of air strikes this year has been slightly below last year's, but is rising steeply.

Mr Garrett said recent air strikes had focused on air defence command and control centres, anti-aircraft guns and missile sites.

He said the pattern was significant in the context of preparations for a war which GlobalSecurity.org believes is likely at any time this winter after the November 5 congressional elections.

Rear Admiral Stephen Baker, a former US naval commander in the Gulf and now a senior fellow at the Centre for Defence Information, said: "This is something you do to prepare the battlefield. The more you can chip away at their defences, the less you have to do later."

Operations Northern and Southern Watch were launched after the Gulf war to provide protection to ethnic groups opposed to Saddam Hussein's rule.

They consist of US and British air patrols aimed at denying air space over the north and south of the country to Iraqi warplanes.

Under the rules of engagement, allied pilots have the authority to attack if they come under threat from Iraqi air defences.


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Copyright 2002 Guardian Newspapers Limited

You didn't get this news? I posted on other thread about the bombing of air defences.

The justification is shaky to say least...