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US BOMBERS ARE BACK (B-52s arrive in Britain!)
Sky News ^ | 3/3/03

Posted on 03/03/2003 9:09:59 AM PST by areafiftyone

American B-52 bombers have begun arriving in Britain, as Iraq claims six civilians were killed and 15 others injured in the latest round of US and British air raids inside the no-fly zone.

The last time the bombers were stationed on British soil was for the attacks on Yugoslavia four years ago.

Once again the long-range B-52s are based at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

The first of the huge jets landed just before noon on Monday. About an hour earlier, what appeared to be a U-2 spy plane had taken off. Two transporters aircraft are also at the base.

British military sources say a large group of US warplanes is due in Britain this week, including 14 B-52s.

Peace campaigners witnessed the arrival of the bombers. One commented: "It gives you a feeling like a stone in your throat and an even bigger stone in your heart. This may as well be American soil here."

In the no-fly zones in Iraq, British and American pilots have been launching new raids on Iraqi defences.

Iraq claims that six civilians died and 15 were injured in one of the raids on the city of Basra located in the southern no-fly zone.

Senior Pentagon officials say the strikes have been on ground-to-ground missile systems and multiple launch rockets, which could be used against coalition troops invading Iraq.

But Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon insisted to the Commons that the RAF's planes were acting "entirely in self-defence" within international law.

US and British warplanes have patrolled the northern and southern zones since the end of the 1991 Gulf War. They were set up to protect Kurds and Shia Muslims from persecution.

Officially, the pilots' missions are defensive, attacking surface-to-air missile sites and aircraft in response to Iraqi hostilities.

Experts say an increase in the raids last year heralded America's determination to blitz Saddam's air defences in preparation for war.

Ministry of Defence and US Central Command officials insisted that the additional raids were in response to increased Iraqi aggression against their aircraft.

But analysts pointed to an apparent intention to destroy Iraq's air defences piece by piece, including anything which could be used against an invasion force.


TOPICS: Breaking News; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: b52bombers; gloucestershire; raffairford
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To: Sparta
Slim Pickins, report to the ready room!
81 posted on 03/03/2003 6:18:41 PM PST by poindexter
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To: RobbyS
A DC-3 will apparently fly forever.

I was out at the West Georgia (Carrollton) airport years ago doing a cross-country - some time in the 70s, and as I hung around waiting for the gas truck I looked into a nearby hangar and saw a Gooney Bird with its wings off. I asked somebody what was going on and he said, "Oh, it's just having its 50,000 mile check!" (btw for you non-pilots, that's a LOT. Probably the rough equivalent of 200k on a car. And if your motor quits, you don't get to just pull over to the side of the road!)

I met one of the DuPonts who had a DC-3 completely refurbished from the ground up and flew around the Caribbean in it. That plane would fly into just about any strip in the Caribbean (except the one at Saba, which you have to be a little nutty even to fly a small Cessna into).

I never flew anything near that big . . .

82 posted on 03/03/2003 6:50:12 PM PST by AnAmericanMother (. . . but I can still admire it.)
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To: rundy
You know how to make my Lundi Gras night. Thank you.
83 posted on 03/03/2003 8:28:40 PM PST by Sparta (ANSWER, the new Communist conspiracy for the twenty-first century)
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To: Mr. Silverback
"Denmark's in the coalition."

I had not seen that. That's good.
84 posted on 03/03/2003 9:04:41 PM PST by Cap Huff
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To: Robert_Paulson2
That is ominous. Just the mention of a B-52 must have a visceral effect on their leaders. Rather chilling on this side to think about what actions would be warned off. (Cold War feelings being rekindled.)
85 posted on 03/03/2003 9:09:51 PM PST by Cap Huff
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To: RooRoobird14
Buffs are an awesome, ugly thing to behold.

LOL, maybe that is why they are called BUFFS.

86 posted on 03/03/2003 9:12:50 PM PST by Mark17
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To: KantianBurke
The airframe design is your grandfathers age, but the similarities stop there.
87 posted on 03/03/2003 9:23:19 PM PST by Natural Law
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To: Cap Huff
indeed.
88 posted on 03/03/2003 9:40:33 PM PST by Robert_Paulson2 (Mr. 29a... needs to be convicted)
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To: Mark17
That's right!!! And "Bomber Puke" (as opposed to Tanker Toad) pilots take a lot of pride in the fact that they fly Big Ugly Fast F---ers!! LOL!!
89 posted on 03/04/2003 6:20:36 AM PST by RooRoobird14
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To: RooRoobird14
Big Ugly Fast F---ers!! LOL!!

Actually, I thought it was big ugly fat F---ers, but I could be wrong.

90 posted on 03/04/2003 9:11:47 AM PST by Mark17
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To: Mark17
I actually heard both--fast and fat. (What do I know--I was just a Bomber Puke wife--LOL!!) If you asked an F-16 pilot, he'd say the first "f" stands for fat, NOT fast.:)
91 posted on 03/04/2003 10:00:19 AM PST by RooRoobird14
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