DoD News Briefing
Thursday, February 18, 1999 - 1:45 p.m.
Presenter: Captain Mike Doubleday, DASD PA
................
Q: Change of subject, Iraq? A military communiqué issued not too long ago in Baghdad said there were incursions on the northern no-fly zone today by U.S. planes and that they attacked one anti-aircraft site. I understand that that's, that you're saying that's not true.
A: From all I can tell on this, this may be a case of an over-zealous public relations person for the Iraqi military simply having prepared a press release, and when events didn't occur as he had forecasted, he put it out anyway. (Laughter)
We had no incidents in Operation NORTHERN WATCH today.
Q: Were there patrols in Operation NORTHERN WATCH?
A: There were some flights, but as I understand it, the weather up there was bad.
Q: Was there any sighting of anti-aircraft artillery fire or any other hostile acts observed by the pilots, even if they didn't respond...
A: Yes, I understand there was likely some AAA that was observed either by pilots or by other means.
Q: So if Iraq said, for instance, that it fired at planes with AAA and then the planes left, it might be technically accurate. If their statement is they fired at U.S. planes patrolling the no-fly zones, and the planes did witness anti-aircraft artillery fire, then the statement could be correct.
A: Jamie, I'm not sure I'd paint the picture exactly that way. As we talked about before, AAA is not exactly a serious threat to planes that are flying at 20,000 feet.
Q: Iraq also said in that release that an attack had been launched by the planes against a site on the ground.
A: I can be very definitive on that; that is that no such attack occurred.
Q: Can you tell us at this point how many targets have been attacked in Iraq since the end of Operation DESERT FOX and how many munitions have been expended in the effort since then?
A: I know you've asked that question before, and I don't have that tabulation. I think we've gone through pretty much every incident, but we've not gone through and tabulated each individual one.
What we have done is -- we have Iraqi violations of the no-fly zone since the end of DESERT FOX. In SOUTHERN WATCH that is about 90 and in NORTHERN WATCH it's about a dozen.
Q: Can you do that? Can you go ahead and tabulate those numbers so we don't have to keep repeating the question?
Q: Because it stretches to incredulity that nobody at the Pentagon has kept track of how many things we've attacked and how many bombs we've used up. Somebody has those numbers somewhere.
A: We will see what we can do for you on that.
Q: And the BDA...
A: I'm not going to predict at this point. I think Ken answered the BDA question last Tuesday.
Q: Was there a reason -- why if there's not a clear response to that, is there a reason why can't just right now say yes, we will. Is there some reluctance to do that?
A: I will do what we can.
Q: That didn't really answer the question. (Laughter)
Q: In a broad sense, did you hit most of what you aimed at?
A: In a broad sense, we've had a very significant impact on the Iraqi integrated air defense system since these violations and provocations commenced on the part of the Iraqis.
Q: This may actually relate to Tuesday's briefing, but let me ask again. Is there any indication presently that Iraq is making any preparations to go outside of its borders to the north and attack anywhere in Turkey? And is the United States keeping a vigil especially against these threats that were made a couple of days ago?
A: To answer the last part of the question first, certainly force protection is the primary goal of any commander, and our commanders at Turkish air bases are certainly aware of this threat and are taking appropriate measures.
Having said that, I've not seen anything that would indicate the scenario that you paint.
Q: Are AWACS deployed in the northern no-fly zone or in Turkey as a defense?
A: Yes. AWACS are part of operations in both the north and the south.
.........
Press: Thank you.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb1999/t02181999_t0218asd.html
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