[A-List] US imperialism: Iraq

["Keaney Michael" <Michael.Keaney@xxxxxx>]

Hmmm, the "alliance", versus the "axis" I suppose. Tally ho...



Alliance jets bomb command centre
Iraqis claim five civilians are killed in air attacks

WILLIAM TINNING
The Herald, 4 October 2002

BRITISH and American warplanes bombed an air defence command centre in a
no-fly zone in southern Iraq yesterday after Iraq tried to shoot down an
aircraft dropping thousands of warning leaflets.

An Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad said five civilians were killed
in the attack, which he claimed targeted civilian installations.

The leaflets warned Saddam Hussein's troops against firing on British
and US planes patrolling the no-fly zone.

It was the first known direct warning from the Pentagon to Iraq's
military rank and file since the Bush administration launched its
campaign to topple Saddam.

US defence officials said it was not directly related to another leaflet
campaign in which the Pentagon plans to warn Iraqi officers against
firing chemical or biological weapons in the event of US military action
to remove Saddam.

The retaliatory action, confirmed yesterday by the US central command,
brought to 46 the number of "strike days" reported this year by the US
and British coalition formed to patrol zones set up to protect Iraqi
minorities following the 1991 Gulf war.

Officials said coalition aircraft dropped 120,000 leaflets depicting a
fighter jet bombing a missile launcher and a radar site with the
message: "Iraqi ADA (air defence artillery) Beware! Don't track or fire
on coalition aircraft.

"The destruction experienced by your colleagues in other air defence
locations is a response to your continuing aggression towards planes of
the coalition forces," leaflets written in Arabic said in reference to
the four dozen times coalition planes have struck back this year.

Frank Merriman, a US Navy commander, said: "We were telling them 'Don't
shoot at us or we'll shoot back' . . . and they were shooting at that
aircraft that was dropping the leaflets."

He said a similar leaflet drop was carried out last October.

Defence officials said yesterday's action was not related to any
possible war with Iraq, but was something that happened "from time to
time" to remind Iraqi gunners that they target coalition planes at their
peril.

A statement issued by the US central command said yesterday's action
took place after Iraqi air defences fired at coalition aircraft.

He said coalition planes, in retaliation, fired precision-guided weapons
at an operations centre and air defence headquarters, near Tallil, some
160 miles south-east of Baghdad.

It was the third time in nine days that planes had launched strikes in
the area. Communications equipment, control radar, and a surface-to-air
missile launchers were believed to have been targeted.

Pentagon officials said coalition aircraft had struck six times in a
month near Al Kut, 100 miles south-east of Baghdad, to target mobile
radar equipment .

Iraq considers the patrols a violation of its sovereignty.

Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, disclosed recently that he
has ordered pilots to attack command and communications links in Iraq's
air defence network rather than the guns and radar stations.

The new approach is intended to reduce dangers to the pilots while
increasing the damage inflicted on Iraq's air defence system, which has
become more sophisticated.

The southern "no-fly" zone in Iraq was established to protect Shiite
Muslims while the northern zone was set up to protect the Kurdish
population.

Both groups were given protection after unsuccessfully revolting against
Saddam's regime.