The US and UK strike against Iraq
Iraq, Politics, 12/17/1998

US Secretary of Defense William Cohen and General Henry Shelton, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday that strategic jet fighters B-52 and cruise missiles were launched from naval ships taking part in attacks against Iraq, which US President Clinton said were launched before the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan, expected on Sunday, because launching an attack during Ramadan would have been "profoundly offensive to the Muslim world."

"That is something we wanted very much to avoid without giving Iraq a month's head start to prepare for potential action against it," Clinton stated.

"The operation employs U.S. Navy aircraft flying from the decks of the USS ENTERPRISE; U.S. Air Force and Royal Air Force aircraft operating from land bases in the region; and Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from U.S. Navy ships at sea and United States Air Force B-52s," Shelton stated.

The US President Bill Clinton today said that had not yet received the "damaged assessment" reports to determine the effectiveness of the strike. Clinton said that "we're going to complete this mission." Yesterday, the Secretary of Defense William Cohen said that he had requested a "sharp" increase in the forces heading to the Gulf.
Cohen said today that although the results are not in yet "I am satisfied and we have more to do."

The aggression against Iraq started at 12:49 (Baghdad local time). Strong explosions were held in the skies of the Iraqi capital followed by intensive anti-aircraft fire which lighted the sky of the capital.

No exact information is known so far about the sites that were hit. Following the first wave of bombardment, a second wave was launched at 1 a.m., and then a third one at 1.29 a.m. (Baghdad local time ).

Eyewitnesses said the Presidential palace at al-Karamah province was exposed to missile bombardment, and ambulances headed toward the hit area.

The first announcement of the strike was made by the spokesman for the White House Joe Lockhart, who said, "At the direction of the President, United States military forces have launched a substantial military strike against Iraq." The spokesman added that Clinton took his decision to begin military strikes against Iraq during a meeting he held with a team of his aides for national security affairs.

The attacks took the form of successive waves of raids.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair was the first to officially announce on Wednesday the participation of British troops together with the Americans in this attack. He said he gave his orders for the British troops to take part in the attack in coordination with the US. He expressed his conviction that the British participation is "significant."

Blair did not define the volume of forces taking part in the attack.

In a statement he read at his headquarters in Downing street, Blair said that the Iraqi President has no intention to abide by what he had agreed to, adding "Since the Gulf war, the entire international community has worked to stop Saddam Hussein from keeping and developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and from continuing to threaten his neighbours. For the safety and stability of the region and of the wider world, he cannot be allowed to do so."

However, in a statement issued following the meeting of the Iraqi leadership, just a few hours prior to launching the attack, Baghdad stressed that the "(enemy) and their (evil allies) are trying through their threats to resort to the use of force to subjugate the will of the Iraqi people and armed forces."

The Iraqi news agency said that it was decided to divide the country into four regions: the North, South, Central and Euphrates areas with each to have its own army. This was the first time such a measure has been taken in Iraq since the Gulf War.

In France, a statement issued by the French Foreign Ministry just one hour after the British and American troops launched the aggression against Iraq said, "France deplores the escalation which led to the American military strikes against Iraq and the grave human consequences which may result on the people of Iraq."

The statement added that France also regrets that the Iraqi leaders did not show "a complete readiness in accordance with the agreement memorandum signed on February 23, 1998 between the UN and Iraq. A cooperation which would ensured the start of a comprehensive revision of the Iraqi weapons disarmament in compliance to the UN Security Council resolution 1194."

On the other hand, Eita Tass news agency reported that Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his French counterpart Jacques Chirac spoke on the telephone on Wednesday before the attack took place and expressed preference for reaching a diplomatic solution to the Iraqi crisis.

Earlier, the UN Security Council held a meeting called for by the Russian representative after the announcement that strong explosions took place in Baghdad. Diplomats said that Russia and China strongly criticized during the IN Security Council's Wednesday morning session the chairman of UNSCOM, Richard Butler, for his negative report and for withdrawing the UN experts from Iraq. The same source added that the Russia and Chinese representatives have implicitly demanded the resignation of Butler.

The two countries also condemned the US attacks, with Russian UN representative Sergey Lavrov saying that Russia "reject(s) outright" US and UK attempts to justify the attacks through Security Council resolutions.

In Ankara, Turkey, which is a NATO member, announced it is sad about the news of the US and British strikes against Iraq and hoped the attack would be "short."

For his part, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan "expressed deep regret." he said " it is a sad day for the UN and the world."

Previous Stories:
  Iraq slams US attacks and questions significance of violations   (12/17/1998)
  Arab reactions as Russia denounces attack   (12/17/1998)
  The US attacks Iraq   (12/16/1998)
  Iraq once again under specter of military threat   (12/16/1998)
  Annan: US policy toward Iraq goes beyond UN policy   (12/16/1998)

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