DoD News Briefing
Tuesday, August 3, 1999 - 1:55 p.m.
Presenter: Mr. Kenneth H. Bacon, ASD PA
..................
Q: What do you have on Iraq? Is there any indication that the Iraqis are moving aircraft nearer to the no-fly zones? Anything like that to indicate a more aggressive operation?
Mr. Bacon: The Iraqis move forces back and forth on sort of an unpredictable basis from time to time, and they do appear to be moving some missiles and other forces into the Southern No-Fly Zone. We obviously watch this very carefully and make every possible step we can to adjust our missions accordingly.
Q: Have there been any violations of airspace of the zone?
Mr. Bacon: There have been some violations recently. I'll have to get you the details on those, but there have been several violations recently, yes.
Q: Today or...
Mr. Bacon: I'm not aware of one today, no.
Q: Just to clarify, when you talk about moving missiles into the southern area, is that a violation in and of itself?
Mr. Bacon: Well, there's an ebb and flow, back and forth, moving them around, moving them in and out. There are fairly...as I say, they have been violating the no-fly zone from time to time both with aircraft -- and I'll get you an accounting of that, of some recent violations -- and from time to time moving missiles. That's why we're patrolling the no-fly zones, and that's why we're responding to these violations.
Q: How about aircraft, moving aircraft near the boundary line?
Mr. Bacon: I'm not aware that that's happening. But I'll check on that.
Q: What do you make of this?
Mr. Bacon: As I said, it's episodic. There's an ebb and flow to this. I don't know what to make of it. But we've found that over time the Iraqis try to employ different tactics. Sometimes they're more aggressive, appearing to try to ambush our planes or preparing to do that, than they are at other times. It is, I think, a signal that they are not taking the no-fly zone seriously and that they are continuing to contest the patrols of the no-fly zones. But there is an ebb and flow to this and it's unpredictable. From time to time we see forces moving one way or another, and this is one time when they seem to be increasing somewhat their forces in the area.
Q: What's your latest view on the Iraqi reconstitution of their WMD production capability? Do you believe...
Mr. Bacon: I don't have good information no that now.
Q: Taiwan?
Q: Can I just ask one thing on Iraq? Does it appear that this is in fact an effort to increase their efforts? Is this an increasing effort to shoot down an allied plane? Would that be the logical...
Mr. Bacon: They don't make announcements about this, but that is a...
Q: (inaudible)
Mr. Bacon: They've set a bounty. They did that last year. They set a bounty on U.S. aircraft. I don't think they've ever lifted that bounty. They have made it very clear that their goal is to shoot down a U.S. or allied plane. So we have to take seriously these threats, and that's one of the reasons we watch very closely the ebb and flow of forces in and around the no-fly zones.
Q: I take it that since the strikes in the no-fly zones have not been limited to the specific weapon system that's threatening the plane at the time that these missiles, if there's perceived to be a threat, would be fair game for future strikes?
Mr. Bacon: We take force protection very seriously, and we are always prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect our pilots.
Q: You're talking about surface-to-air missiles, I assume?
Mr. Bacon: Yeah.
..............
Press: Thank you.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Aug1999/t08031999_t0803asd.html
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