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UK joins Baghdad strike - February 16, 2001
Thu Sep 19 23:42:50 2002
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UK joins Baghdad strike

February 16, 2001
Web posted at: 6:56 PM EST (2356 GMT)

LONDON, England -- Britain joined the
U.S. in an air raid on five Iraqi military
sites near the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

London and Washington said the strikes
were authorised because of a significant
rise in the number of missiles fired at
allied planes patrolling the no-fly zone
over southern Iraq.

A spokesman for UK Prime Minister
Tony Blair said it had been a "targeted and measured response to the dramatic
increase in attacks on coalition aircraft in January."

But other allies from the massive Gulf War
coalition that lined up against Iraq after it invaded
Kuwait have expressed anger at the strikes with
France insisting on "explanations from the
American administration."

It is the first time in two years that targets so
close to Baghdad have been attacked.

Iraqi television said one woman was killed in the
attack and showed pictures of other injured
civilians, including children, in the hospital

UK Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon authorised
British participation in the mission earlier this
week after discussions with the Americans, the
prime minister's spokesman said.

Hoon said: "(Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein
should be clear that we will not tolerate continued
attempts to endanger the lives of our aircrew.

"If he stops shooting at us there will be no need
for the Royal Air Force to attack his air
defences."

Blair, who was at his weekend retreat Chequers
during the raids, was kept informed of the
mission's progress.

British aircraft in the action included Tornado
GR1 armed with Paveway precision guided laser
bombs, air defence planes and tanker support. All
returned safely to their bases in Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia and Bahrain, the Ministry of Defence said.

Initial reports were that they hit their targets successfully.

The action was the first military strike the new U.S. President George W. Bush
has ordered, but at a news conference in Mexico, he described it as a "routine
mission."

The U.S. military has called it "essentially a self-defence operation" with four
targets south and one north of Baghdad being hit.

Following a meeting of Iraqi leaders chaired by Saddam Hussein a statement,
carried by Iraqi television said Iraq would fight the U.S. and Israel in the air, on
land and at sea.

Air-raid sirens began sounding in Baghdad shortly before 9 p.m. local time (1800
GMT) and explosions were heard as anti-aircraft weapons fired into the sky.

Both the U.S. and UK military said the raids were directed at Iraqi military targets
but Iraq has in the past accused the allies of hitting civilian targets.

Iraq has said that some 300 people have been killed and more than 800 injured
since it began challenging the no-fly patrols in December 1998.

British and U.S. aircrews regularly fly patrols over the no-fly areas established
over Iraq at the end of the 1991 Gulf War to protect Shiite Muslims in southern
Iraq and Kurds in the north from Saddam Hussein's forces.

Russia has led recent international criticism of no-fly zones, saying Iraq cannot
be expected to let U.N. weapons inspectors back into the country while U.S. and
British aircraft continue to strike Iraqi targets.

France, which helped establish the no-fly zones, stopped actively patrolling them
in 1998 and has become an increasingly vocal critic, calling air raids "pointless
and deadly."

On Friday the French Foreign Ministry said the air strikes "gave rise to
questions."

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.
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Gulf War Facts
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/facts/gulfwar/index.html
The Coalition

The Allied coalition consisted of 34 countries, including Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh,
Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Honduras, Italy, Kuwait,
Morocco, The Netherlands, Niger, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal,
South Korea, Spain, Syria, Turkey, The United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The U.S. had more than 500,000 troops in the Persian Gulf War, while the non-U.S. coalition forces equaled
roughly 160,000, or 24 percent, of all forces. Here are some details about the forces in the Gulf:

U.S. casualties: 148 battle deaths, 145 nonbattle deaths

Army: 98 battle; 105 nonbattle
Navy: 6 battle; 8 nonbattle
Marines: 24 battle; 26 nonbattle
Air Force: 20 battle; 6 nonbattle
Women killed: 15

U.S. wounded in action: 467

British casualties: 24, nine by U.S. fire

British wounded in action: 10

French casualties: 2

French wounded in action: 25 (estimated)

Allied Arab casualties: 39

Allied combat air sorties flown: More than 116,000

Coalition aircraft losses: 75 (63 U.S., 12 Allied)

Fixed wing: 37 combat, 15 noncombat (U.S. losses -- 28 combat, 12 noncombat; no U.S. losses in air-to-air
engagements)
Helicopters: 5 combat, 18 noncombat (all U.S.)

Iraq

In June 1991, the U.S. estimated that more than 100,000 Iraqi soldiers died, 300,000 were wounded, 150,000
deserted and 60,000 were taken prisoner. Many human rights groups claimed a much higher number of Iraqis
were killed in action. According to Baghdad, civilian casualties numbered more than 35,000. However, since the
war, some scholars have concluded that the number of Iraqi soldiers who were killed was significantly less than
initially reported.

Estimated Iraqi Losses: (Reported by U.S. Central Command, March 7, 1991)

36 fixed-wing aircraft in air-to-air engagements
6 helicopters in air-to-air engagements
68 fixed- and 13 rotary-wing aircraft destroyed on the ground
137 Iraqi aircraft flown to Iran
3,700 of 4,280 battle tanks
2,400 of 2,870 assorted other armored vehicles
2,600 of 3,110 assorted artillery pieces
19 naval ships sunk, 6 damaged
42 divisions made combat-ineffective

Enemy prisoners of war captured: U.S. forces released 71,204 to Saudi control.

The Cost

The U.S. Department of Defense has estimated the cost of the Gulf War at $61 billion; however, other sources
say that number could be as high as $71 billion. The operation was financed by more than $53 billion pledged
by countries around the world, most of which came from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States ($36 billion)
and Germany and Japan ($16 billion). Some of the money pledged by countries such as Saudi Arabia was
delivered in the form of in-kind services to troops, such as transportation and food.


http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/