Half of Saddam's combat fighter force unearthed

London Telegraph ^ | 4/19/03 | Neil Tweedie in Qatar and Toby Harnden in Washington

[truthandlife]

More than 50 fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missiles and guns and huge amounts of ammunition have been found buried and hidden at a base in western Iraq.

The aircraft, many in good condition, included three Russian-made Mig 25s, one of the fastest fighters in the world. Some were buried, while others were concealed in buildings and under camouflage netting.

The find by Australian forces represents as much as half of Iraqi air combat power, and came as a fourth Iraqi from America's "most-wanted" list was handed over to US special forces by Kurdish fighters.

Australian Special Forces soldiers stand guard by a Mig fighter discovered in Western Iraq The capture of Samir Abul Aziz al-Najim, a Ba'ath Party regional chairman for east Baghdad, was hailed by US commanders as another indication that coalition forces were making steady progress in rounding up fleeing members of Saddam Hussein's regime.

The find of 51 aircraft and ammunition was made after a force of 200 troops from the Australian SAS and 4th Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment seized the base after encountering only light resistance.

The airfield contained a tunnel system in which chemical warfare protective suits and antidotes were found. Search operations at the base, the location of which is being kept secret, were continuing yesterday.

The Iraqi air force, once one of the most formidable in the Arab world, failed to undertake a single operation during the war.

Brig Maurie McNarn, commander of Australian forces in the Middle East, said secret contacts with Iraqi air force commanders had played an important role in persuading them not to deploy their aircraft and weapons. "We established means of contacting some senior Iraqis and we also sent them some personal messages saying: 'You really don't want to do this.' "

Estimates before the war put the number of Iraqi combat aircraft at 100 to 300, but restrictions on importing spare parts or new aircraft in the 1990s are believed to have seriously harmed operational readiness.

The capture of Najim means that four out of 55 of Saddam's acolytes on the Americans' most-wanted list have been held. Najim was number 24 and the four of clubs in the deck of cards representing the fugitives issued to troops in Iraq.

Brig Gen Vincent Brooks of US Central Command said he had been located near Mosul: "We know that he certainly has an insight on how the Ba'ath Party central committee worked." He added that it appeared Najim had been sent to the north of the country to command military operations there.

On Thursday American forces captured Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti, a half-brother of Saddam and former head of Iraqi intelligence service. The second of Saddam's three half-brothers, Watban Ibrahim Hasan, has also been captured. The fourth senior figure in custody is Amir Hamudi Hasan al-Sadi.

[The Hon. Galahad Threepwood]

They're just now finding more than four dozen fighter aircraft; think this will stop the media from whining that Coalition forces haven't yet found WMDs?

Naaaaaah.

[Rain-maker]

This shows the Iraqi's are cowards and lack the intelligence to pick a good leaders.

[Rain-maker]

They won't ever reveal finding any WMD's until they find ALL of them.

No one needs 1000's of Muhammad wannabie terrorists scouring Iraq in search of WMD's, because we announced a discovery.

[Sacajaweau]

Before the war, they said that Iraq had 130 operational planes. We're not hearing anymore about the drones they found after the war started. Blixie made a big deal about the one that he found which was toothpicks and duct tape and mocked out the US. Let's wait and see.

WPD are movable and the UN graciously gave Saddam the time. It's not over.

The fact remains, Saddam was a brutal dictator on the level of Hitler, Stain and Lenin. The UN ignored the lessons of history.

I wish the people of Iraq a better and wiser future.

[JimRed]

How long before the first one shows up on e-Bay?

[Archangelsk]

The fact remains, Saddam was a brutal dictator on the level of Hitler, Stain and Lenin

1. Lenin never had a chance to become dictator, he "died" leaving Uncle Josef in charge.

2. Stalin outpaced Hitler in terms of killing his own people, but Hitler concentrated his killing over a more concentrated period.

3. Saddam, although brutal, doesn't even come close to the levels of the big three (Uncle Josef, Adolf, and Mao [all serving time in Hell's cafe - upside down in a river of defecation]), and will probably be ranked in the second tier with the Ayatollah Komenini, the Shah of Iran, Pol Pot and Idi Amin.

[MizSterious]

" They're just now finding more than four dozen fighter aircraft; think this will stop the media from whining that Coalition forces haven't yet found WMDs?"

As it happens, right now the media jackals and their FR fans are taking a little break from bemoaning the lack of WMDS so they can castigate the U.S. for not protecting a museum full of replicas (since most of it was looted long ago).

[George W. Bush]

Nice Aussie find.

After only now finally finding these weapons at a military base, it makes no sense for people to continue to demand to see WMD immediately. The country is too big and Saddam too clever for us to find the WMD right away.

[Illbay]

Would someone explain to me what use a fleet of fighter aircraft serves while buried underground?

[Illbay]

Sorry, but that's just an asinine statement.

The Iraqis never "chose" Saddam. He was a thug who used a secret police system, and widespread informant network, to keep his people oppressed.

The Iraqis are no more cowardly than the other 80% of the world that has suffered under dictatorship at one time or another.

[Illbay]

I've come to the conclusion that the Bush administration has taken the wrong approach in their attempts to convince a skeptical media that Saddam was ripe to be taken out.

Instead of "weapons of mass destruction" and "brutal oppression of dissent", they should have said:

"Saddam has instituted widespread tax cuts! The people of Iraq are only taxed at about the 50% level, when 'everyone knows' that a responsible government needs an effective tax rate of over 80% to enable it to take care of the poor, the needy, and racial minorities!"

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

It seems to me that the Australian SAS troops have contributed to this war much more than their limited numbers would suggest.

Let's have these guys on board for the next war!

[blastdad51]

Don't forget the need to ban assault weapons. ( Needed to get DiFi and Schumer on board )

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Would someone explain to me what use a fleet of fighter aircraft serves while buried underground?

About the same use as sending your air force to another country. Preserving it to fight another day.

Saddam honestly believed that he could wait us out.

[aristeides]

Lenin not a dictator? Just what do you think the Cheka was doing on the Solovetsky Islands?

[YOMO]

Half of Saddam's combat fighter force unearthed
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Amazing Weapons Development the IRAQIS have. Who would have ever dreamed about a below ground Air Force? The IRAQ Military planners have cunningly come up with yet another method of keeping out those American Devils and are winning the war. I bet they also developed Sub Surface to Surface Missles.

[AFPhys]

I see you are betting on no WMDs?

How much are you willing to wager?

(Ahh... I know your next line will be "they were planted" ... along with the chem warheads, gas masks, chem suits, etc...)

[MizSterious]

Where on earth did you get that? I think many have already been found, and the announcement will come in due time. (That's just my opinion--I don't have any "inside" information.) The media, however, hasn't stopped whining about the so-called lack of WMDs since about 5 minutes after the first bomb fell.

[Grampa Dave]

Actually the left wing wackos and supposedly right wing wackos and the NY Slimes will say what took them so long to find these planes.

They will say, "This shows incompetent the Americans are. They would have never found it. It took the Aussies to find it! Besides not protect the artifacts in the Baghdad Museum, our troops can't find 50 planes!"