CBC TV December 16, 2002
US and British planes attacked Iraqi air defences
ANCHORS: PETER MANSBRIDGE
PETER MANSBRIDGE: To the Iraq story now and a day where US and British planes attacked Iraqi air defences for the third day running. The US military said the move was a defensive one after Iraqi artillery fired on aircraft in the southern no-fly zone, but some people say it's already beginning to look a lot like war. David Halton reports. DAVID HALTON (Reporter): It's now almost a daily operation. British and American war planes taking off to patrol and bomb targets in Iraq's no-fly zone. It looks like a dress rehearsal for a full-scale bombing campaign, and it may well be exactly that.
PATRICK GARRETT (GlobalSecurity.org): As the [systems] that surround Baghdad and surround Saddam Hussein gets whittled away, it will be extremely difficult for him to defend himself and his country when the conflict begins.
HALTON: The no-fly zones in Iraq, a northern zone to protect Iraqi Kurds from Saddam Hussein's forces and a southern zone to protect Shiite Muslims, have been enforced by the US and Britain since the early 1990s. Saddam refused to recognize the no-fly zones and, since 1998, ordered his missile and anti-aircraft batteries to shoot down coalition aircraft. This video shows an Iraqi anti-aircraft battery firing at a US war plane patrolling the northern zone. Then the response. The battery obliterated by a US bomb. Since March of this year, the tonnage of coalition bombs dropped on Iraq has increased by 300 percent. Targets have been expanded to include Iraqi command bunkers and communications and pilots no longer required to bomb only when fired on or locked on by Iraqi radar.
GARRETT: You've seen a lot of attacks...
HALTON: According to military analyst Patrick Garrett, the goal of destroying Iraqi air defences seems to be the priority now.
GARRETT: These strikes, especially in the last seven months, have been extremely effective in destroying locations and facilities that could pose a threat to American and coalition aircraft in the opening hours of the war.
HALTON: It's just one more step, says defence expert Tony Cordesman, on the road to war.
TONY CORDESMAN (Defence Expert): If the United States and Britain go to war, suppressing air defences as soon as possible, leaving Iraq totally open to the surgical use of air power is going to be equally important.
HALTON: The "if the US goes to war" may soon change to "when". Officials here are already saying that Iraq deceived the UN with its recent weapons declaration and that Saddam Hussein won't be given a second chance. David Halton, CBC News, Washington.
© Copyright 2002 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
