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Dear friends, '"We just want them to get the message, hey, this is why we keep striking," Hetlage said.' But most Iraqis already know why they keep striking - it's because they want to be able to violate Iraq's national sovereignty at will. The no-fly zones are not authorized by the UN, or by any kind of International Law, and no leaflet can change that fact. peacefully yours, Nancy Hey Five Iraqi civilians killed, 11 wounded in US-British raids: Baghdad October 03, 2002, 07:26 PM BAGHDAD (AFP) - Five Iraqi civilians were killed and 11 others wounded when US and British warplanes bombed southern Iraq, an Iraqi military spokesman said, quoted by the official INA news agency. "Enemy warplanes bombed civilian installations in the town of Nassiriyah, 375 kilometers (235 miles) south of Baghdad, killing five Iraqi civilians and wounding 11 others," the spokesman said. He claimed surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft batteries had forced the "enemy warplanes to flee to their base in Kuwait," and that the US and British aircraft had conducted 55 raids over 18 areas in the south of the country during the day. The US military said earlier that US and British warplanes struck in southern Iraq Thursday after an aircraft came under fire as it dropped leaflets on Iraqi air defense positions warning gunners not to fire on coalition aircraft or "You could be next." Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Dan Hetlage said US and British planes attacked an Iraqi air defense headquarters and operations center which was believed to be the source of the fire. With the United States also stepping up pressure for a renewed international campaign against Iraq, the raid was near Tallil, about 250 kilometers (160 miles) southeast of Baghdad, he said. "The air strike was in retaliation for shooting at the aircraft dropping the leaflets that say don't shoot at us," Hetlage said. The leaflets contained a cartoon showing a fighter aircraft firing missiles into a ground radar and a surface-to-air missile launcher. "Iraqi ADA beware!" read the message. "Don't track or fire on coalition aircraft." On the other side, the leaflet said: "The destruction experienced by your colleagues in other air defense locations is a response to your continuing aggression toward planes of the coalition forces." "No tracking or firing on these aircraft will be tolerated. You could be next," it said. Commander Frank Merriman, a spokesman with the US Central Command, said US forces also dropped leaflets on Iraqi positions in October 2001. "We just want them to get the message, hey, this is why we keep striking," Hetlage said. A Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the leaflets were dropped only in the Tallil area, the site of numerous exchanges with Iraqi forces. Although the Central Command has not publicized past leaflet drops, the official said, "As they are needed, this has been going on since Desert Storm." The leaflets, however, suggested that US forces are preparing the ground with psychological operations in case diplomatic efforts fail and the United States goes to war. US and British forces have recently stepped up air attacks in the no-fly zones that cover large swaths of southern and northern Iraq. The zones were imposed by western powers after the 1991 Gulf War to contain Iraq militarily and help protect minority Kurd and Shiite populations from reprisals by Saddam's forces. In the latest strike, warplanes fired precision guided missiles at an "air defence sector headquarters and integrated operations centre" near Tallil, the US Central Command said. On Tuesday, British and US planes hit a mobile radar near Al Kut, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad. Last Saturday there was an air attack near the southern city of Basra. No US pilot has been shot down by Iraqi forces since the Gulf War, but US military officials say Baghdad has improved the effectiveness of its air defenses with fiber optic communications. Pentagon officials complain that Iraqi forces have fired at US and British forces scores of times since Baghdad offered on September 16 to allow UN arms inspections without conditions. --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
