17 December 1998
COHEN, SHELTON EMPHASIZE STRIKES AIMED AT MILITARY TARGETS
(Goal is to end operation in Iraq as soon as possible) (920) By Jacquelyn S. Porth USIA Security Affairs Writer Washington -- "We are not attacking the people of Iraq," Defense Secretary Cohen declared December 17 on the second day of "Operation Desert Fox" -- the joint U.S.-British military operation in Iraq. "We have been careful in our targeting to try to limit it to military types of targets that would minimize the potential for harm to innocent civilians," the secretary told reporters at a Pentagon news conference. Cohen said the military targets include Iraq's air defense and command and control systems as well as components of Iraq's military infrastructure, such as airfields, that support Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime. Asked about possible targeting of any of Saddam Hussein's 80 presidential palaces, the secretary would only say, "We are targeting military or militarily-related targets. Period." Pressed to clarify the military goal of the operation, Cohen said it "is not to destabilize the regime." Rather it is "to decrease and diminish" Saddam Hussein's capacity to threaten his neighbors and either to deliver weapons of mass destruction or to destroy some of the manufacturing facilities that would enable him to produce chemical or biological weapons, Cohen added. While military planners "have no illusions" about the difficulty of destroying biological and chemical weapons-producing plants, Cohen said, the aim of the air strikes, which began December 16, is "to focus on the military aspects" of Saddam Hussein's regime. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Henry Shelton, who joined Cohen in providing the first brief update on the operation, noted that the U.S. military has not been tracking the movements of Saddam Hussein during the current operation. "Saddam Hussein was not an objective," he said. On the first night of the attack, Shelton said more than 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from U.S. naval ships and more than 70 Navy and Marine strike and strike-support aircraft participated in an operation which hit 50 separate targets. Shelton displayed black and white aerial photographs that showed before-and-after strike images of the headquarters of Baghdad's military intelligence headquarters and the barracks of some of Iraq's elite Republican Guard units which have been used to guard and transport Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Both structures appeared to be in ruins in the post-attack photographs. Asked why these two particular sites had been chosen, Shelton said the intelligence headquarters had provided "advance intelligence" about the movements of United Nations weapons inspectors and the Iraqi intelligence officers also had tried "to deny access" to them by manipulating information. He also said the Republic Guard units associated with the destroyed military barracks had denied the arms inspectors "access on occasion." Even as Shelton and Cohen provided a preliminary assessment of the operation, additional air strikes against Iraq continued. Asked about the duration of "Operation Desert Fox," Cohen would only say that the goal is to complete it "as soon as we can." The secretary also expressed the hope that at the end of the military operation Saddam Hussein "would see the wisdom of finally complying by allowing the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) to return and do its job." Cohen said that the containment policy in Iraq has succeeded to a point in that Saddam Hussein has not been able "to seriously reconstitute his weapons of mass destruction program" and rebuild the military. He added that sanctions against Iraq will remain in place and U.S. military forces will remain ready for any action. Asked about future targeting strategy, Cohen said: "We are going to hit those forces that deal with weapons of mass destruction and also put him in a position to threaten his neighbors." Shelton said "Desert Fox" is designed to both reduce Iraq's ability to threaten its neighbors and degrade its capability to deploy weapons of mass destruction. "Anything else that would influence" the weakening of Saddam Hussein's regime "would be value-added," he noted. The chairman declined to discuss additional operational details. U.S. military strength in the region continued to grow December 17 with the arrival of the USS Carl Vinson carrier battlegroup. Shelton expressed U.S. gratitude for the "continued assistance and support" of its Gulf partners as it seeks to reduce the threat that Saddam Hussein poses "to the overall security of this vital region of the world." Augmentation of the U.S. forces would not be possible without their support, he stressed. Shelton also cited the strong support of British forces in the region and indicated that British Tornado aircraft would be flying with U.S. forces as part of the mission December 17. Shelton was questioned about the timing of the attack, which closely followed the delivery of the UNSCOM report to the U.N. Security Council December 15, and in view of the earlier scheduled, then delayed, House of Representatives presidential impeachment vote. He said that since November 15, U.S. forces had been ready to launch a military operation within 24 hours of the issuance of an executive order from the president. Also asked about prospects for terrorist attacks following the operation against Iraqi military targets, Cohen said Americans should understand that the increased possibility of terrorism "is not something that has been related to what is going on in Iraq." It relates to long-standing planning by terrorists who seek to attack U.S. facilities, he said, adding that terrorist attacks "could happen at any time."
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