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Posted on 08/22/2002 7:03:26 PM PDT by Mohammed El-Shahawi
FIRST SHOT FIRED IN WAR AGAINST IRAQ
by
Yvonne Ridley
The war against Iraq has started with RAF fighter jets coming under enemy fire as 5,000 commandos invaded the north of the country seizing an air base. The news will come as a shock to Britain’s MPs who are demanding a full Parliamentary debate on the threat of a British-backed invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
As details of the invasion emerged, politicians accused Britain and America of starting a war “through the back door”.
The first salvo in the secret war was fired when Britain and American top gun pilots knocked out a crucial air defence system using brand new laser guided bombs. After RAF pilots crippled the Chinese-made fibre optic defence system, 5,000 Turkish commandos were able to launch a covert attack in the north virtually undetected, according to sensitive documents seen by the Sunday Express.
Pentagon officials initially denied there had been any military action or incursion, but when challenged with specific military details a spokesman called back two hours later issuing the terse statement: “We can’t comment on current or future operations.”
He refused to elaborate. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence did however admit that there had been a skirmish over the no-fly zone in southern Iraq involving British and American war planes.
“There was a recent response in self defence which resulted in us attacking Iraqi air defences which had been located by Allied air crews.”
He also confirmed that an “enhanced” version of the Paveway Weapon system with a 2 metre accuracy had also been used to knock out the mobile Chinese manufactured fibre optic air defence system.
He denied any knowledge of a military invasion by Turkey in the north. A spokeswoman for the Turkish Embassy said: “These allegations have been fabricated”. However military documents shown to the Sunday Express reveal that Allies have:
* BLASTED an early warning radar system protecting the skies over Baghdad.
* INVADED Iraq from Turkey less than 48 hours later in the north. * CAPTURED three Iraqi military bases, including an airfield.
* DEFEATED ill-equipped Iraqi soldiers in a battle involving Special Forces troops in the North.
US and British fighter jets destroyed the Iraqi air command and control centre at al-Nukhaib in a desert location near the Saudi Arabia border and just under 300 miles south of Baghdad. It is thought the RAF deployed GR4 Tornado jets operating from the Ali Al-Salem airbase in neighbouring Kuwait.
The action took place on Tuesday morning, at 5am, August 6 when the jets operated over the no-fly zone which has been in operation since the Gulf War.
The upgraded Paveway Weapon system which was installed only four months ago was used by the RAF. Its refined laser guided system enables it to strike a target with an accuracy of plus or minus two metres.
Less than 24 hours later two squadrons of US warplanes flew provocatively over the Iraqi capital from the Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi Arabia and from American aircraft carriers on exercise in the Gulf. There was no anti-aircraft fire leading the Americans to believe that Saddam’s early warning radar systems are inoperable.
Within 48 hours, around 5pm on Wednesday, August 8 the Iraqi early warning systems were tested yet again as a fleet of troop-carrying helicopters from the Turkish Army swept over the Turkish border and into the strategic Bamarni (OK) military airbase which lies 50 miles north of the oil-rich Al Mawsil city.
The military invasion involved 5,000 Turkish Commandos backed by American Special Forces. Eye-witnesses on the ground claimed air support and/or protection in the northern no-fly zone was provided by Turkish, American and British aircraft. Claims of a British air involvement in this particular action drew a strong denial by the MoD.
After a brief skirmish with ill-equipped Iraqi troops from an armoured section of Saddam’s war machine, Bamarni airbase fell into the control of Allied troops and several C130 transporter planes were guided on to the airstrips from bases in Turkey.
Heavy earth-moving machinery and electronic support equipment were unloaded over several days and as rumours of an invasion began to circulate, Turkish television issued strong denials and broadcast old pictures of the air base showing it abandoned and derelict. As Turkish troops reinforced security around the airport which lies just outside of the Kurdish district, American Special Forces and a crack unit of Turkish commandos seized two other strategic military points on either side of the airbase in the Dahuk province of Iraq.
The two bases which incorporated very basic army barracks were on two hills, one 565 ft above sea level and the other 2160 ft and now provide US and Turkish soldiers with strategic look out posts over the immediate area. Americans are now confident they have air superiority over the entire region which includes the two famous industrial cities of Al Mawsil and Kirkuk.
This also includes the strategic railroad linking Syria and Iraq which has long been suspected as a key smuggling route for receiving arms and sending out illegal oil exports.
The invasion, which resulted in the first hand-to-hand combat between coalition and Iraqi troops, took place as Saddam Hussein warned America against invading his country. In the televised address he predicted such an invasion would result in American soldiers being sent home in coffins.
Defence analyst Paul Beaver said: “It is feasible that this is a pre-planned operation and has been in the planning stages for some months. I would say the US is developing an airbridge into Kurdistan to support the Kurdish fighters against Saddam Hussein. We are seeing the opening steps to a more comprehensive engagement of Iraq and the opening steps of a broadening campaign. 5,000 troops is not a lot if you want to sustain your position deep into enemy territory. There could be a risk of a counter attack and heavy casualties.”
American military sources have confirmed that Special Forces have been “on the ground” in Iraq since April training Kurdish soldiers in the north and helping to create insurgencies in the south among rogue elements of Iraq’s army.
A senior officer from Saddam’s army who arrived in Britain last week told me: “It is well known that there are Allied troops in Bamarni. However I do not believe Iraq has lost its entire air defence system network. Even if American warplanes flew over Baghdad it would be typical of Saddam to shut everything down to lure the enemy into thinking they have knocked out everything. However I can tell you those troops closest to him do not have loaded weapons because he is afraid of being shot by his own men. Everyone is talking of American airstrikes and the elite are already sleeping in heavily fortified bunkers every night.”
Another former Iraqi officer from Saddam’s regime added: “The Kurdish Armed Forces are getting help from American Special Forces to act similar to a Northern Alliance operation the likes of which we saw in Afghanistan. However it is obvious to me that once Saddam is removed the Kurds will be the next to be liquidated because no one, especially the Turks, will want dangerously armed Kurds on the loose in Northern Iraq. They have even fewer friends than Saddam but are useful to the Americans at the moment.”
According to information relayed to America by Israeli intelligence via satellite photography, accurate to within three metres, Saddam’s army is positioned in three strategic positions to repel ground force invasions. Regiments are dug in near the Kurds to repel an invasion from the north while another major force is positioned by the Jordanian Border which had previously been ear-marked by the US as an ideal site for a US-led invasion until King Abdullah voiced his concerns in Washington recently.
“Saddam Hussein must be aware of the northern invasion but seems impervious to that and the fact the RAF has knocked out his most important early warning system.
However, he is a veteran military campaigner and we fear that he has something really sinister up his sleeve. For a man who is about to be invaded and attacked on all fronts he seems unconcerned,” observed a senior Whitehall military adviser.
ends
Yvonne Ridley is the author of "In the Hands of the Taliban" (Robson Books Stg £6.99)
LETS ROLL!
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