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Desert Fox commander calls mission a success

Released: 22 Dec 1998

by Staff Sgt. Michael Dorsey
Air Force Print News

WASHINGTON -- In light of the success of the airstrikes on Iraq, the Operation Desert Fox commander said the attack on Iraq saved lives. Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni, commander-in-chief, U.S. Central Command, told reporters in the Pentagon Dec. 21 that the fast and furious attack deterred potential chemical and biological harm to allied forces in the region.

"We prevented his (Saddam Hussein's) ability to prepare, to set SAM (surface-to-air missiles) ambushes, to disperse his forces, to do a number of things that would have made our mission more difficult," Zinni said during the Department of Defense news briefing.

While Zinni did not get into the specifics of airstrike damage, he told reporters the following key hits made the attack successful:

-- Ministry of Defense in Baghdad -- Jamming stations in Tikrit and Basra -- Republican Guard division in Taji -- Oil facility in south Iraq used for possible gas and oil smuggling. -- Weapons of mass destruction sites in Ba'ath -- The airfield in Talil

Command and control targets were also on the hit list throughout the campaign, crippling Hussein's forces from establishing combat communications. Zinni said accurate battle damage assessments will take a few days to complete.

Zinni said the airstrikes were aimed at degrading Hussein's structural assets, and not at civilian targets, as suggested by Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. While Zinni said he was surprised at Iraq's lack of resistance, the general is concerned about terrorist threats to U.S. forces in the region.

"I think, as you know, there have been some very recent and specific terrorist threats," Zinni said, "and we take those extremely serious.

"All our force protection measures are in place. We feel confident that we have all the measures we need and the appropriate ones in place. But I will say this: there's no way to guarantee 100 percent. In order for us to do our mission and our job out there, our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines take a degree of risk day-to-day, and there's no way of avoiding some of that. All we can do is minimize it, use our intelligence, react to it and protect ourselves as best we can. But again, to their credit, they've been absolutely magnificent and this hasn't affected their performance one iota."

During the news briefing Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen said Operation Desert Fox produced two end results: it delayed Iraq's development of ballistic missiles for at least a year and diminished Iraq's overall use of weapons of mass destruction. All of this, Cohen said, was done without American casualties -- a tribute to the talent of the nation's military.

"Our success reflects the quality of the men and women in our force...our troops performed brilliantly," Cohen said. "They worked as a team that was dedicated to its mission, dedicated to supporting each other and dedicated to fulfilling America's responsibilities in the world."