--- In [email protected], "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <snip> > MDixon's absolutely right on this, Lawson. I don't > know where the idea that the Iraqis never fired on > U.S. planes got started, but it's just wrong, unless > the military is blatantly lying.
Just a few examples from the media reporting: BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq said Tuesday that it was exercising its right to retaliate against what it called violations of its air space and that Iraqi planes were now flying in the "no-fly" zones in northern and southern Iraq. Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan made the statement one day after U.S. aircraft patrolling the northern no-fly zone fired on an Iraqi anti-aircraft battery in what Washington said was an act of self- defense after the U.S. planes came under Iraq missile fire. (December 9, 1998) http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9812/29/iraq.02/ A spokesman said the attacks -- three in the southern zone and five in the northern zone -- occurred after Iraqi radar "illuminated" American and British planes patrolling the zones and after artillery was fired at the planes. (March 6, 1999) http://www.cnn.com/US/9903/06/iraq.attack.02/index.html Last year Iraqi air defenders frequently challenged allied air patrols by targeting them with radars or firing anti-aircraft artillery guns or surface-to-air missiles. (April 22, 2002) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,50901,00.html U.S. and British pilots daily play a dangerous cat-and-mouse game as Iraq tries to shoot them down and they retaliate....The Iraqis are so afraid of U.S. anti-radar missiles that they usually fire their missiles without turning on their short-range targeting radar, giving them little chance of hitting a plane, officials say. (August 25, 2002) http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20020825-2222- patrollingiraq.html The Iraqis fired upon or trained anti-aircraft radar on U.S. or British warplanes 366 times in 2000, 527 times in 2001 and 205 times so far this year, according to the Pentagon. Since Nov. 8, Iraq has fired on U.S. aircraft in the zones 11 times. The U.S. has responded by bombing command centers that coordinate anti-aircraft fire. "I would say most recently, every time we're over Iraq, we receive some kind of fire," says Capt. Kendall Card, commander of the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier in the Gulf region. U.S. officials say they are not sure why Iraq continues to fire on American and British warplanes. "Right now, a bunch of folks are scratching their heads, trying to figure out the spirit of Iraq's intentions," says Steve Baker, a military analyst at the Center for Defense Information. "Saddam has everything to lose by doing this." (November 21, 2002) http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-11-21-no-fly-usat_x.htm The Central Command said the Iraqis have fired on coalition aircraft more than 130 times so far this year. (November 26, 2002) http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/11/26/iraq.inspectors.noflyzon e/index.html
