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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (43863)	3/25/2003 7:59:57 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

RAF bombs Republican Guard targets near capital By Stewart Payne at RAF Tornado base Ali Al Salem (Filed: 26/03/2003) RAF Tornados were bombing Republican Guard targets south of Baghdad last night as part of an aerial offensive against the defenders of Saddam Hussein's stronghold. As coalition troops fought to within 80 miles of the Iraqi capital, the Tornado GR4s were ordered in as part of Operation KI/CAS (Killbox Interdiction/Close Air Support) - referred to as "Kick Ass" by the Americans. Killboxes are grid squares, 35 miles by 35 miles, and a "hot" killbox contains identified targets which could hinder the land advance. The Tornados are ordered into a specific killbox and given 30 minutes to fire their weapons, which include enhanced Paveway laser-guided bombs. The tactic is known as close air support and the jets will be flying at 20,000 ft, within range of Iraqi missiles and anti-aircraft fire. "It is a very hostile environment," said Wing Commander Paddy Teakle, who leads the five Tornado squadrons based at Ali Al Salem in northern Kuwait. "The Iraqis play a very good game of survival with their air defence systems and they are moving them around to prevent them being targeted." Once inside their designated killbox, a formation of Tornados uses co-ordinates given by ground forces to seek out and destroy the threat to troops. As the boxes are cleared, the troops move forward. "We are swinging our effort heavily in support of the ground war," said Group Captain Simon Dobb, the RAF detachment commander at Ali Al Salem. "The purpose is to denude the strength and combat effectiveness of Republican Guard positions to the south of Baghdad which present a direct threat to the advancing columns. We are giving our forces the freedom of action to press on with the attack." He admitted he had subscribed to the "pack of cards" theory that Iraqi resistance would quickly disintegrate and said Saddam's forces were giving a good account of themselves in certain areas. "He has been particularly clever at moving his air defences around and has not yet used those close to Baghdad to reduce the risk of them being located." Should a Tornado leave a killbox with some missiles left "we will expend those munitions on Iraqi troop targets on the way home," he added. Gp Capt Dobb said RAF Harriers and US air force A10s, F18s and F16s were also taking part in the offensive against the Republican Guard, each designated their own killbox or group of killboxes. The Tornados are most likely to drop Paveway bombs, but may also use conventional 1,000lb "dumb" bombs. The thrust of the air operation is south of Baghdad, above Karbala. The area represents a considerable threat to ground forces, not just because of the presence of the Republican Guard but because it is within the "red line", an area defined with Baghdad at its centre and Tikrit to the north, where the coalition estimates that Saddam is most likely to use chemical weapons. Iraq's urban paramilitary force, the fedayeen, remains active in the south and the Tornados have also been operating in killboxes in and around Nasiriyah. It was clear yesterday that Saddam's forces still have surface-to-surface missile installations active in the south of the country. The Ali Al Salem base, 30 miles from the border, came under missile attack for the 18th time, forcing the 1,400 RAF and Royal Engineers personnel into bomb shelters. The missile, thought to be an Ababil 100, was intercepted by a Patriot defence missile seven miles from the base. It was launched from north of Basra from a mobile installation that has changed positions and evaded detection.