Iraq Says It Fires on U.S., British Planes

Reuters News Service ^ | Nov. 26, 2002 | N/A

[jgrubbs]

— BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi forces fired on U.S. and British warplanes patrolling "no-fly" zones in northern and southern Iraq Tuesday, an Iraqi military spokesman said.

There was no immediate comment from Washington or London.

The incidents happened as U.N. arms inspectors prepared to begin their first searches in four years Wednesday for illicit nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

The United States has said that Iraqi fire on its jets over the "no fly" zones may constitute a breach of this month's U.N. resolution 1441, under which Iraq must cooperate with the inspections or face the threat of war. Other members of the Security Council, including Britain, disagree with that view.

Flying from Turkey, a formation of planes flew 16 sorties starting at 10:50 a.m. over northern areas including Zakho and Arbil, the Iraqi spokesman said in a statement.

In the south, starting at 11:40 a.m., aircraft flew over several areas including al-Nasseriyeh and Samawa, he added. In both north and south, Iraqi air defense forces opened fire.

Iraq does not recognize the "no fly" zones set up after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Kurdish populations in the north and Shi'ite Muslims in the south. Incidents of firing on the U.S. and British jets patrolling the zones are frequent.

[mhking]

When will we consider this to be a material fu****' breach, damn it!!!!!!??????

And you ostrich-types, don't give me this crap about "when are you going to go enlist?" That is not the point, period!

[Magnum44]

Relax and watch it unfold, at the time and place of our choosing, not Saddam's.

[Ragirl]

I completely agree. American lives are on the line every day over the skies of Iraq because he's shooting at them. WE need to make Iraq live up the the resolution they "agreed" to and get this war going already!

[ladtx]

I wonder if it will be a material breach when one of our guys gets hit.

[Poohbah]

When will we consider this to be a material fu****' breach, damn it!!!!!!??????

As soon as our strategery of directing subliminable misinformation at Saddam causes him to misunderestimate us.

[Hodar]

In my humble opinion, having someone point a $50,000 radar at a plane, then watching the plane deliver a $1 Million missle to destroy the radar is sending the wrong message. Might I suggest that we fire two of our $1 Million dollar missles. The first takes out the $50,000 mobile tracking sytem, the second takes out a $5 Billion oil refinery. That should send a message that even a tyrant should understand.

[MadIvan]

Oi, Saddam - try and hide from this!

Regards, Ivan

[Mr. Lucky]

How about if we targeted every $50,000 radar installation with a $25,000 Daisy Cutter?

[b4its2late]

[appeal2]

The breach will occur when one of our planes is "hit" by Iraqi ground fire. This will be a Gulf of Tonkan type event. I personally can hardly wait, but obviously all of the troops and supplies will have to be in place. Logistics wins wars.

[twigs]

I think you're right. It seems Saddam is trying to draw us into fire. This president is a careful planner and I've not seen him yet react in a foolish way that gets his focus out of alignment. When he's ready, Saddam had better be prepared! This man will not pursue this war the way his father did.

[hchutch]

That's an admission. I hope the CO of the 509th is near his phone...

B-2 bomber: $500 million.

KC-10A Extender: $86.3 million.

16 JDAMS: $62,846 each

Knowing the only warning Saddam will have that we have had enough when the JDAMS hit their targets: PRICELESS.

There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard.

[ASA Vet]

the second takes out a $5 Billion oil refinery

I believe a better idea would be to take out one Palace each time,
not an oil asest which we can use in a few months.

[ASA Vet]

asest = asset

I are an exsellant poofreeder, duh.

[Poohbah]

We actually got a resume where the guy wrote, under Addtional Qualifications/Skills, "I am an excellent poofreader."

We decided that we probably didn't need that particular skillset in the office...