Of course this is being done in order to reduce the number of targets needed to level at the outset of our attack later this year. (These folks are not very bright)
Nahum 3:7 And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
US, UK jets attack Iraqi missile site
REUTERS [ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2002 07:54:09 PM ]
WASHINGTON: US and British warplanes attacked an Iraqi anti-aircraft missile site on Wednesday in a northern "no-fly" zone of that country in response to threats against the aircraft, the US military said.
The strike against the air defense target northwest of Mosul was the 47th of the year by American and British jets policing no-fly zones set up in both northern and southern Iraq following the 1991 Gulf war.
The US European Command, which is responsible for patrolling the northern zone, said in a release from its headquarters in Germany that the jets responded to threats to shoot them down by attacking an "imminently hostile surface-to-air missile system" with guided weapons.
All of the aircraft left the area safely and damage to the target was being assessed, the release said.
The frequency of the airstrikes against Iraqi air defenses has fluctuated over the decade since the Gulf War. But they have increased sharply in recent months as speculation has grown that US President George W Bush might order an invasion to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who Washington accuses of developing weapons of mass destruction.
The no-fly zones, which Baghdad does not recognize, were imposed to protect a Kurdish enclave in the north and Shi'ite Muslims in the south from possible attacks by the Iraqi government.
"our CNN sources confirm that US forces retaliated when fired upon by several exceptionally well-armed baby-milk factories. While Iraqi officials were unable to explain why baby-milk factories were equiped with advanced radar detection units and what appeared to be ICBMs, they reiterated the right of all baby-milk factories to defend themselves..."