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Politics : Attack Iraq? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (1708)	9/27/2002 10:32:31 AM
From: Stephen O	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 8683

The war is already happening. from the National post. U.S., Britain bombing Iraq every 2nd day Jan Cienski National Post Friday, September 27, 2002 WASHINGTON - The United States and Britain have dramatically stepped up their strikes on military targets inside Iraq, using the "no-fly zones" set up after the 1991 war to mask what appears to be the first stage of the planned war against Saddam Hussein. After months of sparse engagements -- at a rate of one or two a month -- the two allies have averaged one attack every two days over the past five weeks, coinciding with the escalation of the Bush administration's drive to oust the Iraqi President. The targets have also been broadened. Although U.S. policy has been to fire only when one of its planes was targeted by the Iraqis, it has clearly initiated recent attacks to eliminate radar and other installations in preparation for a larger assault. "They are pursuing the no-fly zones as if there is going to be a seamless transition to war," said James Lindsay, a military analyst with the Brookings Institution. "They are going to take these targets out any way and they feel they might as well take them out now," added the think-tank's Mr. Lindsay. Just how robust the campaign has become was made clear overnight yesterday, when U.S. warplanes hit the radar system at the civilian airport in Basra, Iraq's second city and its main port at the head of the Persian Gulf. It is also the site of major oil refineries. Pentagon officials said the attack was aimed at a military radar on the civilian airfield that was threatening coalition aircraft. In Baghdad, a spokesman for the Ministry of Transport and Communications said the raid "destroyed the [airport's] civilian radar system in addition to causing damage to its main building." He called it a "terrorist act that contradicts the spirit and objectives of the International Air Transport Association." "The civilian radar system destroyed by the American enemy" was operating in line with international rules, he added. The attack on Basra, and another strike on Wednesday at an air defence site at Kufa, about 130 kilometres south of Baghdad, are part of a startling increase in air strikes by coalition aircraft or, as the Iraqi News Agency calls them, "enemy ravens." Since Aug. 20, allied aircraft have hit 16 targets in Iraq, 14 in the southern no-fly zone, which covers some of the largest cities and most prominent military bases. The pace has accelerated as the war talk coming out of Washington has grown more serious. Only three strikes were launched in January, two in February, none in March, one in April, five in May, five in June, six in July and 10 in August. The Pentagon has not tried to hide its change in policy, though it often underplays the significance of attacks, just as it maintains the recent flood of men and weapons to U.S. bases in the Gulf region is part of previously planned exercises. Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. Defence Secretary, recently ordered U.S. forces to change targets from anti-aircraft guns and radar facilities. The idea is to hit static, higher-value targets, not lighter and cheaper equipment that can be easily replaced through Iraq's relatively porous borders and money-hungry neighbours. "What has changed a little bit is the tactics that are being employed in response" to Iraqi anti-aircraft fire, said General Peter Pace, vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "The response ... has been to go after more of the targets like communications buildings that are not easily moved and striking those." With analysts suggesting a war against Saddam could come as early as February, any damage to Iraq's air defences beforehand makes it safer for the hundreds of aircraft that will be flying missions over the country. The no-fly zones were established by the Americans, British and French after the Gulf War to protect Shiite Arabs in the south in 1991 after a failed rebellion against Saddam and a year later to protect the Kurdish minority in the north. They were never expressly authorized by the United Nations, although the allies maintain they are being used to enforce Security Council Resolution 688, which condemns Iraq's repression of its minorities. Iraq has never accepted the zones and since 1998, the year the French left, has been trying to shoot down allied aircraft, so far without success. The ground rules for the zones spell out what is considered hostile action: - Firing anti-aircraft missiles or guns at allied aircraft; - "Locking on" to allied aircraft with radar; - Flying military aircraft in the no-fly zone; - Moving anti-aircraft equipment in a hostile manner. The Iraqis have tried to deal with these handicaps by turning on their radar at the last second before firing, hoping to correctly direct a missile at an allied plane before the pilot manages to send an anti-radar missile back toward the radar station. A switched-on air defence radar lights up like a klieg light on the U.S. pilot's instruments. The Iraqis also fire on planes from civilian areas and use decoys to lure them into attacks. Iraq has also studied recent conflicts with the United States, sending specialists to Serbia for briefing on Yugoslav tactics during the Kosovo war. In an attempt to do an end-run around the U.S. ability to jam radio communications, Chinese specialists laid an unjammable fibre-optic network to connect air-defence facilities. The nodes channelling those cables are one of the targets of the air campaign. Iraq has also possibly bought an advanced Kolchuha radar system from Ukraine, which can target planes without their pilots being alerted. Ukraine denies the allegation but the United States has cut US$54-million in aid to the former Soviet republic and is demanding an investigation. jcienski@nationalpost.com