Posted on 09/26/2002 8:26:38 AM PDT by Ed_NYC
IRAQ today accused allied warplanes of attacking a civilian airport in the Gulf port of Basra.
State TV did not mention casualties.
The Pentagon said there were two strikes early today in response to Iraq firing anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles at allied aircraft patrolling the no fly zones.
An announcer on state-owned satellite channel called the airport strike a "terrorist act" that breached "international civilian aviation regulations."
Air raids as part of US and British enforcement of no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq are routine. But the latest comes at a time of high tension between the United States and Iraq.
President George Bush, accusing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction and harbouring terrorists, has said he wants a "regime change" in Baghdad.
He has not said whether he will go to war to achieve his aim, but is pushing for a UN resolution that could authorise an attack.
The Iraqi TV announcer said the strike, just after midnight, targeted Basra International Airport's radar system and that the terminal building also was damaged. No further details were immediately announced.
It was not clear whether the airport had military as well as civilian facilities.
In Washington, a Pentagon official said coalition aircraft launched two strikes - one near Basra and the other near Al Kufah in the central part of southern Iraq.
The strikes were ordered after Iraqis fired anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles at aircraft that had been patrolling the zone, the Pentagon official said.
The Iraqi attacks took place about an hour and a half before the retaliatory strikes, he said. He did not say where they occurred.
The United States and Britain have patrolled zones in the north and south of Iraq since the end of the 1991 Gulf War, declaring the areas off limits to Iraqi aircraft to protect Kurds in the north and Shiites in the south.
The allies say they do not target civilians, but respond when Iraqi military radar lock onto their fighter planes.
LOL, it's clear to everyone but this writer and the Senate Dems who probably want "proof". Sheesh, Of course it is a military facility, everything is in Iraw because it is basically a military state.
And after that, he claims we hit their 497th baby milk factory.
Sounds reasonable to me.
When you put your military forces in civilian areas and then use them to target assets of the US, don't come whining about "civilian" casualties when said assets decide to remove the threat.
Lessons from my days in martial arts:
Raise your fist, I punch you in the face.
Strike me, I break your arm.
Break my arm, I take out your eyes.
They sure do have a lot of those, dont they?
I haven't heard Rush this week,(time to go to Rush24/7 and listen to today's show) but I do tend to agree with this. I think that the recent strikes in the last couple of weeks are an attempt to knock out their radar and AA sites before we go in. I could be wrong. :)
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