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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (57926)	11/20/2002 12:36:05 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 281500

Looks like the US just isn't going to let them use missiles against our pilots~~ AP-ES-11-20-02 1128EST:~~United States Bombs Three Iraqi Air Defense Facilities By Robert Burns Nov 20, 2002 The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. warplanes bombed three air defense communications facilities in southern Iraq Wednesday, a day after Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Washington would immediately respond to attacks on American and British warplanes. Rumsfeld said the United States would retaliate in such circumstances involving the patrolling of no-fly zones regardless of whether the United Nations views the shootings as violations of U.N. resolutions. U.S. warplanes struck at the Iraqi defense facilities after Iraqi air defenses fired surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery at U.S. and British planes. In a statement, U.S. Central Command said the three targeted facilities were unmanned and located between the cities of Al Kut and Basra. It provided no more precise description of the targets or locations. It said Iraqi air defense forces have fired on U.S. planes six out of seven days since Iraq accepted U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441, which demands that Iraq turn over to inspectors all information about weapons of mass destruction. In his comments, Rumsfeld refused to elaborate on whether he meant retaliatory strikes on Iraqi anti-aircraft sites would continue or was hinting at a stronger response than has been used in the past. "You can be absolutely certain we'll not allow our aircraft to continue to be shot at with impunity. We intend to respond," Rumsfeld told reporters returning to Washington with him Tuesday from a Western Hemisphere military summit in the Chilean capital. He stayed in Washington Tuesday night before heading out to join President Bush at a NATO summit in Prague, Czech Republic. In preparation for possible war in Iraq, the Bush administration has quietly contacted 50 countries, including Canada and Britain, to solicit contributions of troops and war materiel in the event Bush decides to use force, an administration official said Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. Rumsfeld and other officials have said they believe Iraq violates the latest U.N. Security Council resolution when it fires on the U.S. and British warplanes. But U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday he didn't think the full Security Council would agree that firing on no-fly-zone patrols was a violation of the latest resolution demanding that Saddam Hussein disarm. Russian officials also said their government does not interpret the firings as violations. Rumsfeld said the Security Council could decide otherwise. "I don't know that he (Annan) necessarily reflects the United Nations, the center of gravity of the Security Council, on any particular issue at any particular time," Rumsfeld said. "He certainly is the secretary-general and he has a place and a role. On the other hand, until President Bush went to the U.N., the U.N. was quite happy with the way things were, it seems." The United States says it set up the no-fly zones with Britain and France to support U.N. resolutions demanding Saddam cease repression of Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south. The Security Council has never formally approved of the no-fly zones but has never formally repudiated them either. Iraq, for its part, calls the no-fly zones a violation of its sovereignty and frequently tries to shoot down the aerial patrols. Iraq has fired at coalition planes and the coalition has responded with strikes on Iraqi anti-aircraft sites at least four times since Iraq accepted the latest Security Council resolution demanding Iraq eliminate its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs. Rumsfeld and other U.S. officials, while they denounce the no-fly zone firings, have indicated they expect Bush to wait to see how Iraq complies with renewed U.N. weapons inspections before seeking Security Council debate on a possible war. As Bush did before the Security Council passed its latest resolution on Iraq, Rumsfeld on Monday and Tuesday suggested the United Nations would be impotent if it let Saddam continue to defy its disarmament demands. "The United Nations, in order to be relevant, to have any standing in the world, cannot have 16 resolutions ignored by any country," Rumsfeld said in an interview with the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio. "If they really don't care, they shouldn't pass resolutions." Rumsfeld said "a large number of countries" have told the United States they would help plan and possibly participate in military action against Iraq, regardless of what the Security Council does. AP-ES-11-20-02 1128EST This story can be found at: ap.tbo.com