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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/260/wash/U_S_pilots_take_aim_at_more_vu:.shtml U.S. pilots take aim at more vulnerable elements of Iraq's air defense network By Robert Burns, Associated Press, 9/17/2002 08:33 WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. and British fighter pilots, responding to what the Pentagon calls Iraqi provocations, are chipping away at the underpinnings of one of Saddam Hussein's prized military assets: his air defense network. And the Pentagon is working on the possibility of erecting bases closer to the region for its stealthy B-2 bombers, aircraft that would be key to any military assault against Saddam, a defense official said Tuesday. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld disclosed Monday that more than a month ago he ordered that pilots attack command and communications links in Iraq's air defense network rather than the guns and radars frequently used to target or shoot at U.S. and British pilots. ''The idea that our planes go out and get shot at with impunity bothers me. And I don't like it,'' Rumsfeld told reporters. The goal of the new approach, more than a decade after American and British pilots began enforcing ''no-fly'' zones over northern and southern Iraq, is to reduce dangers to the fliers while increasing the damage inflicted on an Iraqi air defense system that has grown more sophisticated. U.S. officials rarely discuss specifics of tactics used in patrolling the flight-interdiction zones, which Iraq claims are illegitimate violations of its sovereignty. These patrols rarely draw much attention in the United States, but they provide important experience for allied pilots and information about Iraqi activities for U.S. officers preparing plans for a possible war against Iraq. Destroying or neutralizing Iraq's air defenses probably would mark the opening stage of a U.S.-led invasion. Meanwhile, two defense officials said on anonymity Tuesday that the Pentagon wants to erect some half dozen mobile shelters on the British island of Diego Garcia to house B-2 bombers now based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Basing the bombers at the Indian Ocean site would cut in half the distance they would fly to reach Iraq for any missions. One official said he didn't know whether the British has been formally asked for permission or if the idea was just informally discussed with them by the U.S. Central Command, which is in charge of the American military in some two dozen countries from Africa to Asia. But the Air Force for years has been talking about getting more bang from its bombers by having them carry out more wartime missions from air bases outside the continental United States. Rumsfeld's appearance in the Pentagon briefing room marked a subtle but clear change of approach, at least rhetorically. Whereas he previously resisted talking about the possibility of war against Iraq he once complained of a news media frenzy on Monday he raised the matter himself. Rumsfeld said the United States cannot afford to put off dealing with Iraq until it has proof Saddam has a nuclear weapon or intends to strike at U.S. interests. ''There isn't a single smoking gun that everyone nods and says, `Aha, that�s it,��� Rumsfeld said. ��If we wait for a smoking gun in this instance, it obviously would be after the fact. ... You�d find it after lethal weapons were used against the United States, our friends and allies. And that�s a little late.�� Rumsfeld also made clear he wanted to deliver a message to those in Iraq who might be called upon by Saddam, the president, to carry out an order to use weapons of mass destruction against U.S. or allied forces. He said these Iraqis, whom he described as hostages to Saddam and ''frightened to death'' of their leader, should be ''very, very careful about their roles in the use of weapons of mass destruction'' on Saddam's behalf. Doing so, he said, they would be ''nominating themselves as part of the regime.'' The suggestion in his comment was that they might be spared if they were to defy Saddam's orders. This week, Rumsfeld is scheduled to testify in the Senate on the Iraqi threat. Next week he will travel to Europe for a NATO meeting at which the allies are to receive an intelligence briefing on Iraq. In his remarks Monday, Rumsfeld said it was decided late last year that U.S. and British pilots who fly almost daily over Iraq should change their flight patterns to avoid certain areas, Rumsfeld said. Although U.S. and British pilots do not always fire back when Iraq fires surface-to-air missiles or anti-aircraft artillery at them, the approach in years past was to respond by dropping bombs on the Iraqi missile launchers, anti-aircraft artillery emplacements or the radars used to cue them. Rumsfeld said he saw growing dangers and diminishing gains in that policy after he took office in 2001. ''It really did not make an awful lot of sense to be flying patterns that we were getting shot at if, in response, we were not doing any real damage that would make it worth putting pilots at risk,'' he said. The U.S. and British retaliatory strikes were ''only marginally effective,'' he added. Some months later Rumsfeld ordered that pilots switch their target priorities. ''Instead of going at the specific radar that was involved, which can easily be moved between the time a missile is fired and the time we're able to counterstrike, they're picking on targets that are still part of that continuum of air defense but that are not conveniently moved and can be struck readily,'' Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace said in a joint appearance with Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. This includes such things as communications sites, command centers and fiber-optic links. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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