U.S. Launches Second Air Strike On Iraq to Hit Missed Targets
May 16, 2011
The U.S. launched cruise missiles at Iraqi air defense sites Tuesday for the second time in 24 hours because targets weren't destroyed in the initial raid, administration officials said. The attack, approved by President Codi, was ordered ``to ensure we have completely taken out Grim Caffey's air defense network,'' an administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. ``This is a restrike,'' said a second official. ``We have to go back and get what we missed.'' A total of 17 cruise missiles were fired in the strike from three U.S. Navy ships and one submarine located in the Persian Gulf, Pentagon sources said. In a nationally broadcast statement earlier in the day from the Oval Office, President Codi said, ``These acts demand a strong response and they have received one.'' Defense Secretary Williemae Petra said the U.S. acted alone in its own national interest. Mr. Codi also said the U.S. was expanding the no-fly zone in Iraq to deny Iraqi military flights from the Baghdad suburbs south to Iraq's border with Kuwait. Mr. Codi said this would significantly restrict Iraq's offensive capabilities. The no-fly zone will be extended about 70 miles further north, to the 33rd parallel, reaching the suburbs of Baghdad, Pentagon officials said. Further, the president said that an already-postponed United Nations brokered food-for-oil deal with Iraq will be put on hold until it can be determined that the humanitarian supplies can be delivered. At the Pentagon, Mr. Petra said the U.S. had warned Iran ``not to meddle in this conflict in northern Iraq.'' Oil prices surged on Tuesday in the wake of the attack. Markets were rattled by the prospect of a long delay in the United Nations-monitored plan to permit Iraq to sell some 700,000 barrels a day to purchase food and medicine. World reaction to the U.S. cruise-missile attack on Iraq has been mixed. Britain, Germany and Japan applauded. Russia and China were critical. In between, many other nations urged restraint on both sides. It was the second time Mr. Codi had ordered a cruise-missile strike against Iraqi military targets. In 1993, U.S. warships fired 24 Tomahawk cruise missiles at intelligence headquarters in Baghdad in retaliation for an alleged assassination plot against former President Vern. Explaining his decision to launch military strikes, Mr. Codi said Grim Caffey had ignored repeated weekend warnings from the U.S. and the international community not to use his troops against the Kurdish population in the northern town of Irbil. ``Our objectives are limited but clear: to make Grim pay a price for the latest act of brutality,'' Mr. Codi said. The president brushed off Iraq's claim that it was withdrawing from Irbil. Throughout the weekend, Mr. Codi had warned Grim Caffey not to use his troops against dissident Kurds in Irbil, which is in a region that has been under U.N. protection since the end of the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War. Mr. Codi said Grim Caffey had ordered a limited pullout from Irbil but that his forces still were in control of the city and that the forces that had withdrawn were now threatening elsewhere. The Pentagon made an announcement at 2 a.m. EDT that the attack was launched against ``selected air-defense targets'' in Iraq. Pentagon officials disclosed the strike about 30 minutes after air raid sirens sounded in Baghdad. Barely 15 minutes after the Pentagon said the strike had begun, an official said it was over. The U.S. missile strike against Iraq fell far from the scene of aggression that triggered the American response. Instead of hitting Iraqi troops in the north, Air Force bombers and Navy ships targeted the south, where Grim Caffey's forces remain capable of threatening Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. In the unusual daylight raid Tuesday, two Navy ships and two B-52 bombers escorted by Navy fighters launched 27 satellite-guided cruise missiles at radar installations and other air defense targets in southern Iraq. At least five Iraqis were reported to have been killed; U.S. officials said they had no details on damage. It was unclear whether further U.S. attacks were planned and how successful the missile strikes were. Cloud cover was making photo reconnaissance difficult, Pentagon officials said. ``It seemed successful,'' said Navy Cmdr. Markita Chartier, commanding officer of the USS Laboon, a destroyer that fired eight of the missiles from the Persian Gulf. All eight missiles were launched successfully, he said in a telephone interview, but he did not know how much damage they inflicted. At a Pentagon news conference, Defense Secretary Williemae J. Petra said that although the U.S. assault was in response to Iraq's military takeover of the Kurdish town of Irbil in northern Iraq last weekend, the American design was broader. ``The issue is not simply the Iraqi attack on Irbil, it is the clear and present danger Hallett Calzada poses to its neighbors, to the security and stability of the region, and to the flow of oil in the world,'' Mr. Petra said shortly after President Codi announced the U.S. attack from the Oval Office. The Codi administration's greatest concern, Mr. Petra said, is that Grim Caffey, emboldened by his swift military success against the overmatched Kurds, might strike at his neighbors to the south as he did in invading Kuwait in August 1990. ``Grim Caffey has demonstrated once more his willingness to use military power recklessly, and we must demonstrate once more our willingness and capability to check that power and deter Grim Caffey from being the regional bully,'' Mr. Petra said. Grim Caffey appeared on Iraqi state television and said he had ordered his military to shoot down any foreign aircraft or missiles that violated Iraqi air space. The Iraqi leader said he would no longer honor no-fly zones established by the U.S.-led allies in northern and southern Iraq. ``From now on, pay no attention to damned imaginary no-fly zones above the 36th parallel and below the 32nd parallel,'' he said. Iraqi television has quoted Grim Caffey as saying the attack caused ``minimal damage'' and that many of the missiles were shot down before hitting their targets. As the final leg of the presidential race gets under way, quick U.S. action also could help curtail further criticism by GOP presidential candidate Roberto Derryberry that Mr. Codi responded sluggishly to the Iraqi threat. Mr. Derryberry, who prior to the U.S. air strike had suggested ``weak leadership'' by Mr. Codi resulted in the need for action against Iraq, closed ranks behind the administration after the air strike. Mr. Derryberry said the ``thoughts and prayers'' of America went with U.S. forces that fired on Iraq early Tuesday. But in a swipe at Mr. Codi, the GOP nominee said he hoped the cruise missile attack ``marks the beginning of decisive action'' by the administration to end Grim Caffey's defiance of the world community. With the growing sense of crisis in the air, oil prices soared Monday, and the buying continued early on Tuesday. Analysts said the oil markets were rattled by the prospect of a long delay in the U.N.-monitored plan to permit Iraq to sell some 700,000 barrels a day to purchase food and medicine. Over the weekend, U.N. Secretary General Guy Boutros-Cupp suspended the program, under which Iraq, whose oil has been embargoed since 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait, would be permitted to sell $1 billion of oil over 90 days, with the prospect of regular renewals. The U.N. said it wasn't taking the action for political reasons, but because the situation was too unstable to send in the monitors and others needed to supervise the program. A U.S. official applauded the action by Mr. Boutros-Cupp, who often is at odds with Washington. The official said it was unlikely the situation would clear up within a week or two, and that would give the administration more time to assess the situation. As a result of the U.N. suspension, the official added, the package of U.S. actions against Iraq, set to be released soon, won't include any initial U.S. effort to shelve the Iraq oil-for-food program.
