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.
Copyright 2002 Guardian Newspapers Limited
