Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
Little-noted air war over Iraq grinds on, with criticism rising
James W. Crawley
The San Diego Union-Tribune December 27, 1999, Monday
While Americans celebrated Christmas and mark New Year's Day 2000, U.S. pilots
are engaged in the longest air war since the Vietnam War, a bombing campaign
that begins its second year Tuesday with no end in sight.
During the past year, American and British
warplanes have dropped at least a million pounds of high-tech bombs on more
than 400 military targets in Iraq during an air war largely unreported in the
United States and Europe.
Although the Pentagon says it has picked only targets involved
in firing on allied warplanes, Iraqi officials and American critics say
hundreds of civilians have been killed in the raids.
And military analysts question whether the airstrikes are having any effect on
Saddam Hussein and his regime.
Since Dec. 28, 1998, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps fighters and
bombers, along with British bombers, have hit Iraqi anti-aircraft guns, missile
sites, communications facilities and military headquarters on an average of
more than once every three days.
The last raid took place Dec. 12 when U.S. jets responded to anti-aircraft fire
near Mosul and Bashiqah in northern Iraq.
"This is the longest (air) operation since Vietnam," said
John Pike, a military analyst. The Vietnam War ended nearly 25 years
ago.
Combat aircraft are based in Turkey, Kuwait and on U.S. carriers in the Persian
Gulf.
Some of the raids have been flown by San Diego-based pilots from Miramar Marine
Corps Air Station, who returned last week from the Persian Gulf aboard the
aircraft carrier
Constellation.
Next week, more San Diego-based Marine jets will head for possible combat over
Iraq aboard the carrier Stennis.
The bombings started nine days after U.S. and British forces attacked Iraq in a
four-day operation called
Desert Fox, in which bombers and cruise missiles struck 100 targets throughout
the nation.
Iraqi forces had begun firing anti-aircraft artillery, known as AAA, and
surface-to-air missiles, known as SAMs, at allied warplanes patrolling the
northern and southern no-fly zones over
Iraq, which were imposed after the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War. Iraqi jets are
forbidden from flying north of the 36th parallel or south of the 33rd parallel.
For years, Iraqi gunners had not challenged the patrolling aircraft. Then,
after Desert Fox, Hussein posted a $14,000 bounty for
any plane shot down.
U.S. officials blame Hussein for the continuing air war, saying that no bombs
would fall if Iraqi troops stopped shooting at allied warplanes.
The no-fly zones have been a significant military deterrent against Hussein
since the Gulf War,
so Washington has no intention of stopping now, Pentagon officials say.
Little has changed in the Clinton administration policy toward the bombings
since last Dec. 28, when U.S. jets first blasted a SAM site that fired on them.
At that time, the president declared,
"Our pilots have the
authority to protect themselves if they're threatened or attacked."
Iraq has fired missiles and artillery more than 410 times at allied planes over
southern Iraq, according to the U.S. Central Command. Iraqi aircraft,
including supersonic fighters, have violated the southern no-fly zone nearly
150
times.
Allied forces have retaliated by dropping laser- and satellite-guided bombs on
Iraqi gun and missile sites or the radar and command facilities that direct air
defenses. So far, no allied warplanes have been hit.
In 137 days of bombing, U.S. and British jets have dropped
approximately 1, 200 precision-guided bombs and missiles on about 460 Iraqi
targets -- sometimes hitting the same location several times as earlier damage
was repaired.
Particularly hard hit have been military sites surrounding Mosul and the Saddam
Dam, both in northern Iraq, and Tallil, As
Samawah and Al Amarah in southern Iraq.
Recent experience
Pilots who have flown over Iraq in recent months say anti-aircraft fire has
been heavy at times.
"Lots of triple-A," said Capt. Tom Trotter, the Constellation's air wing commander.
"Seems
like every time we'd fly, they'd fire at us."
As air wing commander, Trotter oversaw a squadron of F-14 Tomcat fighters and
three squadrons of F/A-18 Hornets, including Squadron VFMA-323, based at
Miramar, that took part
in Iraqi raids between September and November.
During two months, the air wing flew 1,200 sorties and provided two-thirds of
the combat strength over southern Iraq.
"Triple-A in some places would look like a fire hose (being aimed skyward)," he
added. Three times, Trotter witnessed Russian-made SAMs launched by Iraq.
At night, a SAM launch is eye-catching.
"It's a lot like a Space Shuttle launch at night, especially (when one has
light-amplifying) night-vision goggles
on," Trotter said.
"It gets everyone's attention."
In recent weeks, Iraqi anti-aircraft activity has declined, said Pentagon
spokesman Ken Bacon. That decrease may be linked to the Ramadan holy month of
fasting and recent U.N. efforts to restart weapons inspections, Bacon said.
Also,
U.S. intelligence has noticed the recent movement of many Iraqi air- defense
weapons out of the no-fly zones, but Bacon said similar movements have happened
before.
"He has a choice now between cooperation and confrontation," Bacon said recently.
"Confrontation has not gotten him what he wanted. It
might be time for him for try cooperation."
Although allied warplanes have eluded flak and missiles, bombing targets have
been elusive and difficult to locate; some are as small as a minivan or picnic
table. Most were mobile, moved from one location to another, or placed near
schools, mosques or residential areas.
"It was a bit of a shell game," Trotter said.
Casualties and critics
Allied commanders have been worried about civilian casualties and many targets
have been kept off target lists because of their proximity to civilian areas.
"If there was any doubt, we wouldn't drop," Trotter said.
A few bombs, Pentagon
officials acknowledge, have missed their mark, but casualty figures, if any,
haven't been released by U.S. officials.
However, Iraqi spokesmen and U.S.-based critics claim hundreds have been killed
by the bombs.
"Casualties are in the low hundreds," said Phyllis Bennis, an Institute of Policy Studies fellow
who is critical of U.S. sanctions against Iraq.
A lot more people, she stated, have died because of nine years of economic
sanctions against Iraq.
She complained that the bombing is illegal because some targets are
communications centers used by civilians.
Likewise, another critic of U.S. policy, Peace Action's
Gordon Clark, called the bombing campaign a ludicrous and inappropriate policy
that is also illegal under international law.
"We are the proverbial 800-pound gorilla on the international stage," Clark said.
"We can bomb countries, and it's not even news because we do it so often," he added.
"And, then we wonder why terrorists are
targeting us."
Others question the air war for different reasons.
The bombing campaign has helped to contain Saddam Hussein from rebuilding his
military and confronting other gulf states, which is a vital concern for the
United States, said Heritage Foundation analyst Baker Spring.
However, he and other Iraq-watchers say, the overall strategy toward Iraq falls short.
"The problem is, what is it exactly that we want to achieve with Iraq?" asked Spring.
Describing the Clinton administration's Iraq policy as
"ongoing aggressive containment," Spring suggested that the policy will not change Hussein or Iraq's militancy.
The continuing bombing
campaign worries Kenneth Allard, vice president of Stratfor, a private
intelligence firm.
He worries the day-in, day-out missions are robbing readiness as the military
responds to more operations worldwide with fewer personnel.
Although he said the air war has increased pilots' combat skills, Allard
questions the price the military is paying, adding,
"We're wearing the force down to the nub."
Copyright 1999 The San Diego Union-Tribune
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