Editor: I stand corrected in light of the facts pointed out by Lt. Colonel Horn in his letter published in the "Tracy Press" on Wednesday. I also share his sorrow for the lives and families of the sailors hurt and killed by the attack on the USS Stark. I wonder, though, if Colonel Horn can tell us how many times the United States and Great Britain have launched unprovoked attacks on Iraq and how many Iraqis — civilian and military — were killed in those attacks.
The attacks to which I refer are those made under the guise of 'defending' the northern and southern "no-fly zones" in Iraq. These "zones" and the attacks made in them are illegal, and are not recognized nor legitimized by the UN — although the US government claims an unsanctioned right to enforce UN Security Council Resolutions 678, 687 and 688.
In April 1991, claiming a false authority under Security Council Resolution 688, the US, UK and France began to patrol the skies over northern Iraq, excluding Iraqi aircraft from this zone. Enforcement of a second "no-fly" zone in southern Iraq began a few months later. Announced as a means to protect Iraqi Kurds (in the north) and Iraq's Shi'a population (in the south), the "no-fly" has offered dubious humanitarian protection, while engaging Iraq's government in ceaseless military pressure. The US and UK turned "no-fly" into an even more aggressive operation after 1998, when "more robust rules of engagement" have led to regular bombing of ground targets and substantial civilian casualties.
Following the more than 24,000 combat missions patrolling these "no-fly zones", by the Pentagon's own count, 78 coalition strikes occurred in 2002, 43 strikes in 2001, and 80 in 2000. Pentagon officials said the annual numbers give a general idea of activity in the zones, but cautioned that comparisons can be misleading partly because the military has changed the way it counts Iraqi firings, incursions and other hostilities over the years.
Even though the Pentagon has changed the way it counts, it still managed to get to a number higher than 1.
Daniel Wells
Tracy