U.S. Warplanes Face Down Iraqi Jet Over Saudi

Yahoo News ^ | Sun Mar 2, 7:48 AM ET | Mariam Isa

[Kev-Head]

If Iraq is so against war with the U.S. then why pull a stunt like this. Open your eyes World Saddam is asking for it.

[AmericanBabe]

Don't you think that Saudi should be allowing us to use their bases? After all, if we hadn't protected them 12 years ago, they'd all be speaking Iraqi now.

[Arkinsaw]

The last war they got "left-hooked" by a surprise force from the Saudi wasteland that knocked their block off. Thats what this guy was looking for.

[bannie]

With eyes wide open, I concur.

[Dog Gone]

This was breaking news on Thursday.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Wonder how many Mig 25's they've got ?

[Archangelsk]

Iraqis speak Arabic like the Saudis. You're probably thinking of Iranians who speak Farsi.

[polemikos]

If Iraq is so against war with the U.S. then why pull a stunt like this.

1 - Possible recon flight
2 - Trying to provoke US into breaking Saudi rules (ugh) of engagement

[Mr. Mojo]

Why didn't those Eagles blast that Foxbat out of the sky?

[Petronski]

This is a Foxbat, with Soviet markings:

[onedoug]

We should state the obvious, and stage from Israel.

[Cold Heat]

As shots from the ground are normally wild and sporadic, Saudi-based U.S. warplanes just veer away when attacked, then call in jets based in Kuwait or from aircraft carriers to attack the guns on Iraqi soil. "It's quite a dance, the rules are very strict. We don't want to act in an irrational way and we don't want to be doing anything illegal or politically untenable," Air Force Colonel James Moschgat, vice commander of U.S. planes patrolling a no-fly zone over southern Iraq, told Reuters.

What is irrational, is the fact that we put up with this nonsense!

[tet68]

F-15C fighter pilot Lt. Col. Matt "ZOT" Molloy told Reuters in an interview.

There, that's better, probably a former admin moderator.

[Marauder]

I agree. As I recall, this is the same kind of crap that caused us to lose the Viet Nam conflict.
My vote would have been to hose him just for being in the no-fly zone.

[PhilDragoo]

"It's quite a dance, the rules are very strict. We don't want to act in an irrational way and we don't want to be doing anything illegal or politically untenable," Air Force Colonel James Moschgat, vice commander of U.S. planes patrolling a no-fly zone over southern Iraq, told Reuters.

Defending against attack whether tactical in Saudi or strategic worldwide is rational.

Continuing to kiss Saudi butt is not rational.

As for "illegal" and "politically untenable" it's long past time for the pc herd to be culled.

Ms. Moschgat and her upstream command chain as far as necessary should be dropped into Baghdad for sensitivity training.

[Beck_isright]

Why the hell wasn't this plane downed??? Are we going to let one of their mirages with the aerosal dispersal tanks buzz our assembly areas in Kuwait and a mass disaster to occur????? These planes should be wasted the minute they cross into the no-fly zone.

[Mr. Mojo]

"It's quite a dance, the rules are very strict. We don't want to act in an irrational way and we don't want to be doing anything illegal or politically untenable," Air Force Colonel James Moschgat

This is the same sort of legalistic nonsense that prevented us from firing on Sheik Omar's jeep. It's high time we extinguish these Clintonesque wusses from our military.

[Paraclete]

Just out of curiosity, how does an F-15 stack up against the "Foxbat," from a performance perspective?

[nomorecameljocks]

Reading through the report, I begin to smell a rules of engagement rat. Hopefully, insane ROE's will not be used to tie our guys hands in the upcoming clash. I hope and believe that the Bushies have enough respect for our troops not to allow such a thing.

Examples of past insane ROE's:
"You may only fire after you have been fired upon" Sounds good on TV. Unfortunately, it is difficult to return fire when you are dead.

"Military targets within X yard/meters of civilian facilities may not be targeted" Again, sounds nice on TV. Of course, the enemy sites his AAA, missles, etc. on the roof of hospitals.

"Ports, staging areas, depots, etc. may not be targeted" Why use one or two bombs to destroy enemy supplies/weapons where they are concentrated when hundreds or thousands can be used when they are disbursed? This makes perfect sense to bomb salesmen, fuel salesmen, airplane salesmen, casket salesmen, etc.

[ruiner]

I agree! He was probably probing our defenses to a kamikaze style attack or chembio attack.

I guess we know anyone in Saudi, 15 miles from the Iraq border is toast.