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MSG TO WORLD: Don't Mess with U.S. - B-1B bombs Iraqi radar sites
AP ^ | Fri Mar 14, 6:15 PM ET | ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

Posted on 03/14/2003 8:32:28 PM PST by bonesmccoy

WASHINGTON - In a departure from the patrols by fighter jets over Iraq (news - web sites) in recent months, a U.S. B-1B bomber struck two anti-aircraft radar sites in western Iraq on Friday, military officials said.

The strikes at 1420 GMT targeted a radar system near Iraq's H3 airfield and another airfield near Ruwayshid, only a few miles (kilometers) from the border with Jordan, military officials said. The strikes came after Iraqi forces moved one of the systems into the no-fly zone patrolled by U.S. and British planes over southern Iraq, the officials said.

The B-1B Lancer, a heavy bomber originally designed to carry nuclear warheads but shifted in recent years to carry conventional munitions, is one of three kinds of heavy bombers repositioned in recent months during the buildup for a possible U.S.-led war on Iraq.

As the buildup continued elsewhere, the Pentagon (news - web sites) began moving warships on Friday out of the Mediterranean into the Red Sea, from where they could launch long-range cruise missiles on a path to Iraq that would not go over Turkey, officials said.

Of the approximately one dozen ships to be shifted, a first group of five transited the Suez Canal on Friday, harbor officials at Egypt's Port Said told The Associated Press. They identified the ships as the guided missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke of the Theodore Roosevelt battle group and the destroyer USS Deyo of the Harry S. Truman battle group.

Three submarines from the battle groups also traveled through the canal — the USS Boise, USS Toledo and USS San Juan, the officials said.

The rest of the ships were to follow soon, Pentagon officials said.

In a related development, Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander who would lead any U.S. invasion of Iraq, left his Qatar command post Friday to meet with officials in the United Arab Emirates. There was no official word on when he would return to Qatar.

Also, the Air Force announced at the Pentagon that it will implement a rarely used authority to prevent a wide range of active duty and reserve officers and enlisted members from leaving the Air Force. The move reflects a growing strain on the Air Force as it prepares for war.

Air Force spokeswoman Jennifer Stephens said the order, which takes effect May 2, could affect as many as 21,000 people, ranging in rank from airman to colonel. The Army and Marine Corps have similar orders in effect, but the Navy does not.

The Truman and Roosevelt aircraft carriers are remaining in the eastern Mediterranean, at least for now, officials said. They have been operating there for weeks in anticipation of war against Iraq. Each carrier has about 80 aircraft aboard, including F/A-18 attack planes.

The shift of Tomahawk-shooting ships could be the first step in a larger redeployment of ground and naval firepower away from Turkey, which so far has refused to grant overflight rights for U.S. naval aircraft and cruise missiles like the low-flying Tomahawk.

The Pentagon had hoped to base a 60,000-strong U.S. Army force as well as additional Air Force warplanes in Turkey for use in an Iraq war, but Turkey has not approved those, either. About 50 American and British planes at Incirlik air base in south-central Turkey enforce a no-fly zone over northern Iraq, but it is not clear that the Turkish government would allow them to fly offensive missions against Iraq.

From the Red Sea, the Navy cruisers, destroyers and submarines would be able to launch their Tomahawks for flights over Saudi Arabia to targets inside Iraq.

Tomahawks are satellite-guided missiles normally used in the opening stages of war to strike high-value, fixed targets such as government buildings in areas where the risk of civilian casualties is relatively high.

The Tomahawks are 18 feet (5.4 meters) long and are designed to evade radar by skimming the land or sea surface. They carry 1,000-pound (450-kilogram) warheads. Following the Gulf War (news - web sites), they became one of the weapons of choice to respond to Iraqi breaches of U.N. sanctions.

The issue of overflight rights for U.S. missiles and planes has been overshadowed by the Bush administration's struggle to win Turkey's approval to base 60,000 or more U.S. troops there to open a northern front against Iraq.

The Turkish parliament rejected the U.S. request for basing rights earlier this month, and Pentagon officials said Thursday it appeared increasingly unlikely that the Army would position its 4th Infantry Division in Turkey, as originally planned.

About three dozen cargo ships with the 4th Infantry Division's weaponry, equipment and supplies have been waiting off the Turkish coast for weeks, and the troops are still at their base in Fort Hood, Texas.

During the 1991 Gulf War the Navy positioned carriers and Tomahawk-launching ships in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. It now has three carriers in the Gulf — the USS Kitty Hawk, the USS Constellation and the USS Abraham Lincoln. Those carrier battle groups include about 20 Tomahawk-firing ships and submarines. _________________


TOPICS: Breaking News; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Free Republic; Front Page News; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: iraq; jdams; un; us
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To: Robert_Paulson2
My so bad.

Three demerits for using that term!

41 posted on 03/15/2003 8:36:38 AM PST by ErnBatavia (u)
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To: Grampa Dave
Check in to FR for your reality check and grip on the real world not what the Tribune

No kidding on the TRIB, fish wrap deluxe. Good food and drink here....awful news..glad I brought my lap top.

42 posted on 03/15/2003 9:01:47 AM PST by BOBTHENAILER (Just like Black September. One by one, we're gonna get 'em.)
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To: bonesmccoy
Actually Carter did kill it. Reagan resurrected it.
43 posted on 03/15/2003 10:05:17 AM PST by mark_interrupted
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To: Grampa Dave
It doesn't matter we started the war about weeks ago.

We are running 500 to 800 sorties each day over Iraq. Our specops, the UKS and the Aussies are on the sands of Iraq.

The Marines are running people and equipment through the cut fence on the DMZ in Kuwait. We have had bases with the Turks in N. Iraq for about a year.

This is kinda like "boiling the frog". Saddam won't know he's "at war" until some Spec Ops trooper taps him on the shoulder with his M4 Carbine.

44 posted on 03/15/2003 11:10:27 AM PST by Tallguy
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To: Tallguy
I think that when this is finally and officially over, your analogy of "boiling the frog" will be correct.

Except Saddam knows that his Frogs are being boiled, removed and surrendering. He is afraid to say anything as that would cause mass panic among his loyal troops.

A few weekends ago my wife and I heard about the 500+ sorties per day. Then, we found out that the day of the report there were 800 sorties. (about what we averaged in DSI after the first few days)

This war started in earnest in February this year if not in January.

Boiling the Frog is a perfect word picture.
45 posted on 03/15/2003 11:21:30 AM PST by Grampa Dave (Stamp out Freepathons! Stop being a Freep Loader! Become a monthly donor!)
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To: fhayek
lady liberty, without that heavy burqua like thing the French put on her...
yes, she is rather nice.
46 posted on 03/15/2003 11:24:10 AM PST by Robert_Paulson2
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To: Grampa Dave

Saddam, enjoy these diplomtic measures courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.

47 posted on 03/15/2003 11:34:02 AM PST by PhilDragoo (Hitlery: das Butch von Buchenvald)
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To: bonesmccoy
I was at the air show last year at Offut AFB when a B1 flew overhead. After the loud noise of engines, the announcer said, "Folks, that's the sound of freedom." How true.
48 posted on 03/15/2003 4:58:00 PM PST by irish_lad
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To: edwin hubble
B-1B
Probably the most beautiful aircraft ever to fly for U.S. forces.

Well, I can see what you mean, if considered from a strictly aesthetic point of view. OTOH, an otherwise ugly slick can look pretty good, if you are the last squad on the ground in a hot PZ.

Certainly, your Cobra is nice and sleek, and Hogs are good to have around; but, to four rotorheads, trying (pretending) to make a defendable perimeter around a bent huey, an inbound slick is the most beautiful aircraft there is.

DG

49 posted on 03/15/2003 7:59:33 PM PST by DoorGunner
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To: bonesmccoy
BUMP!!!!
50 posted on 03/15/2003 9:50:01 PM PST by HighRoadToChina (Never Again!)
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To: mark_interrupted
Actually Carter did kill it. Reagan resurrected it.

and "B-1 Bob" Dornan shepherded it to birth.

They are laughing out the other sides of their mouth now.

51 posted on 03/16/2003 7:36:06 AM PST by jokar (In my experiance, there is no problem so deep, that a good ass kicking can't improve upon.)
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