US and Britain escalate air patrols over Iraq to mask timing of start of war

ap ^ | 3/5/03

[knak]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States and Britain have more than doubled the number of air patrols in the "no fly" zone over southern Iraq this week to keep Iraqi air defenders off guard and mask the start of any war, a senior defense official said Wednesday.

[Pushi]

Sounds good to me.

[John H K]

I think you can count on this being an indication there's not going to be a month-long wait before the war starts or anything as people seem to be worried about; about one- two weeks of this is about long enough to build a "routine"; any longer really doesn't serve any point.

[Lady Jag]

God bless President Bush and God bless America. Now let's roll.

[RightWhale]

Several hundred sorties a day are now being flown over southern Iraq

Most would be short hops, but even so it's not a small number.

[riversarewet]

By this weekend...

[John H K]

As I mentioned in the Drudge thread this was on both the CBS and NBC evening news and reported as "800" sorties on both, which is quite a lot.

[Dog]

Fyi..

[cake_crumb]

That is what I've been waiting to hear! Everything appears to be two weeks behind schedule, but seems to be running smoothly. God bless all of our troops!

[Dog Gone]

Cool. Maybe we ought to send a few cruise missile overhead so they get used to that, too.

[prairiebreeze]

Salutes to you, Ex DS Vet. :^)

Prairie--(and all the other veterans on this list too!)

[metalcor]

Surely they don't mean to mask the beggining of the war as in sneak attack? At some point I expect someone to say we have made the decision and any in Iraq who wish to opt out should grab their white flags ( I'll bet there has been a run on white sheets and matching pillowcase sets at the neighborhood Target) and get the hell away from anything resembling a military asset. Seems like an American thing to do.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[RightWhale]

800 would be a lot for the no-fly zone. Inside Kuwait at present it might be a reasonable number just moving things around and training. But in the no-fly zone it would be an entry or exit from the airspace every minute around the clock. That is busy.

[thoughtomator]

I think we've given a pretty clear signal for those who don't want to be bombed to clear out. Adding risk to our military personnel by announcing the timing of the attack beforehand I don't think is wise. It's less than our men deserve, and more than the Butcher and his cronies deserve. People who don't want to die for Hussein know not to be in the way.

[metalcor]

I don't mean give notice of exact hour or even the day, but dropping several thousand bombs tonight without any public statement of our final decision would not be proper IMHO. I feel pretty certain that most of the regular army and citizenry would like to prepare banners and pick flowers to welcome the first troops and would appreciate a little heads up. I doubt they have been given a full sense of what is coming their way. Those intending to fight have already had too much time to prepare and notice would have little benefit for them.

[Rudder]

...and mask the start of any war...

Then, out of the blue, the mask comes off and all hell breaks loose.

Saddam must be going through De-Pends like shit through a goose.

[Bombard]

Operation Specialist 2nd Class USS Donald B. Beary FF1085. Middle East cruise 1976 at your service.