Bill Clintons Secret War

"Saddam still standing but, but bombing of Iraq quietly continues: While most of the world's attention focused on NATO'S air war against Yugoslavia the United States and Britain wage's smaller, less intensive but no less hostile war against Iraq. Throughout the last 1998 and all of 1999, American and British fighter pilots patrolling "no flight" zones over northern and southern Iraq, repeatedly attacked military targets inside Iraq including anti-aircraft, Artillery batteries, missile launchers, radar stations, and other parts oaf Iraq"s military defenses. The strikes, which came ever few days on average, followed repeated attempts by Iraq's military to challenge the the patrols overhead. The strikes began shortly after the United States and Britain lanced a concentrated barrage of air and missile strikes against Iraq over four days in December, l998 The aim then was to deliver a sharp but short military blogs against Saddam Hussein to punish for refusing to cooperate with the United Nations weapons Inspectors. It was a low-level conflict and extremely one sided. By the fall of 1999 no American or British military aircraft, had been struck by Iraq fire, let alone shot-down, despite support missions as the NATO allies flew against Yugoslavia The Iraqis, however, endured strike after strike. After eight months of skirmishes, the Pentagon estimated that cumulative attackers had weakened Iraq's air defense system within the zones by 40 to 50 percent, though the Stokes did little to quash Iraq's defense. In a few instances, the Pentagon acknowledged that bombs and missiles had gone astray, killing civilians, though they said Iraq's claims of casualties were often exaggerated. When the smoke cleared, however, Hussein was anything but coward. Instead, he declared that Iraq would no longer tolerate the "no flight" zones, with the United Stated and its allies created after the Persian Gulf War ended in 1991 to protect ethnic populations long repressed by the Iraqi regime. He offered a $14,000 bounty to any Iraq soldier who could shoot down an American or British just." Steven lee Myers. The comments relative to Clinton's Secret War was extracted verbatim Blythe author of this blog, from the 2000 New York Times ALMANAC. THE MESSENGER. JAMES J. DOBRANICH SR. CMSGT, USAF, RETIRED