- WASHINGTON (UPI) -- U.S.
and British forces struck an Iraqi command and control communications facility
about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad around 6:15 am EDT Tuesday, U.S. Central
Command announced.
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- The strike occurred near Al Kut, the third time of five
strikes in the southern-no-fly zone to date this month that the location
has been hit. The last strike occurred Friday, against a mobile surface-to-air
missile site near Tallil.
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- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld directed his commanders
earlier this year to target not just the tactical weapons sites threatening
aircraft in Iraq but the higher-value command facilities that provide targeting
coordinates.
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- Since Sept 16, when Iraq President Saddam Hussein said
he would allow U.N. arms inspectors access to his country to search for
chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, Iraq has fired on U.S. and British
aircraft enforcing the no-fly zones more than 122 times, predominantly
in the southern no-fly zone. The strikes are carried out in response to
threats to aircraft enforcing the restricted areas, either targeting with
radar or actual the firing of missiles or anti-aircraft artillery.
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- The northern no-fly zone has been considerably quieter,
with just one strike this month, on Oct. 9, against a mobile missile that
had been moved into the restricted area.
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- "If there was ever a case of 'Watch what he does,
not what he says,' this is it. While expressing willingness to work with
the United Nations and the international community, Saddam Hussein orders
his military to attack American and coalition pilots," Pentagon spokeswoman
Victoria Clarke said last week.
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- The no-fly zones were created shortly after the Persian
Gulf War by agreement of the United States, Great Britain and France to
protect Kurdish minorities in the north and Shiites in the south, in keeping
with U.N. resolutions that called on Saddam not to target the groups.
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- No-fly zone enforcement went relatively unchallenged
for nearly seven years until 1998, when Iraq blocked U.N. arms inspectors
from carrying out unfettered inspections. The inspectors were withdrawn
and the United States and Great Britain launched a four-day retaliatory
attack on Baghdad known as Operation Desert Fox. Following that campaign,
Saddam directed his gunners to fire on coalition aircraft and offered a
reward for any U.S. pilot or plane shot down.
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- Planes flying over southern Iraq have been fired on more
than 206 times this year. Aircraft in the northern zone have been fired
on more than 200 times, according to Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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