To repeat for the second time in recent days an important passage from the British reporter Michael Smith’s work on the joint criminal conspiracy between the Bush and the Blair regimes, the explicit purpose of which was to engineer the U.S. and U.K. military seizure of Iraqi territory in the spring of 2003 (“The War Before the War,” New Statesman, May 30, 2005):
The record of the July [23, 2002] meeting in London…contains a revealing passage in which Geoff Hoon, then defence secretary, tells his colleagues in plain terms that “the US had already begun ‘spikes of activity’ to put pressure on the regime“. What is meant by “spikes of activity” becomes clear in the light of information elicited from the government by the Liberal Democrat Sir Menzies Campbell, who asked the Ministry of Defence about British and American air activity in 2002 in the southern no-fly zone of Iraq – the zone created to protect southern Shias after Saddam Hussein brutally suppressed their 1991 uprising against him.
The MoD response shows that in March 2002 no bombs were dropped, and in April only 0.3 tonnes of ordnance used. The figure rose to 7.3 tonnes in May, however, then to 10.4 in June, dipping to 9.5 in July before rising again to 14.1 in August. Suddenly, in other words, US and British air forces were in action over Iraq.
What was going on? There were very strict rules of engagement in the no-fly zones. The allied pilots were authorised to fire missiles at any Iraqi air defence weapon or radar that fired at them or locked on to their aircraft. As was noted in Foreign Office legal advice appended to the July 2002 briefing paper, they were only “entitled to use force in self-defence where such a use of force is a necessary and proportionate response to actual or imminent attack from Iraqi ground systems”.
That May, however, Donald Rumsfeld had ordered a more aggressive approach, authorising allied aircraft to attack Iraqi command and control centres as well as actual air defences. The US defence secretary later said this was simply to prevent the Iraqis attacking allied aircraft, but Hoon’s remark gives the game away. In reality, as he explained, the “spikes of activity” were designed “to put pressure on the regime”.
What happened next was dramatic. In September, the amount of ordnance used in the southern no-fly zone increased sharply to 54.6 tonnes. It declined in October to 17.7 tonnes before rising again to 33.6 tonnes in November and 53.2 tonnes in December. The spikes were getting taller and taller.
In fact, as it became clear that Saddam Hussein would not provide them with the justification they needed to launch the air war, we can see that the allies simply launched it anyway, beneath the cloak of the no-fly zone.
In the early hours of 5 September, for example, more than a hundred allied aircraft attacked the H-3 airfield, the main air defence site in western Iraq. Located at the furthest extreme of the southern no-fly zone, far away from the areas that needed to be patrolled to prevent attacks on the Shias, it was destroyed not because it was a threat to the patrols, but to allow allied special forces operating from Jordan to enter Iraq undetected.
It would be another nine weeks before Blair and Bush went to the UN to try to persuade it to authorise military action, but the air war had begun anyway. The number of raids shot up, from four a month to 30, with allied aircraft repeatedly returning to sites they had already hit to finish them off. Senior British officials insist that no RAF aircraft opened fire until it was at least locked on to by an Iraqi radar, but it is difficult to see how the systematic targeting of Iraqi installations could have constituted “a necessary and proportionate response”. The story of the secret air war dovetails neatly with the other evidence from the leaked documents, further demonstrating why, even after the general election, Blair’s efforts to dispel the allegations about the background to war and get the country to “move on” seem doomed to fail.
Extracting the month-by-month tonnage of bombs reportedly dropped by the British Royal Air Force on targets in southern Iraq for ten months in 2002:
March: 0.0 tons
April: 0.3 tons
May: 7.3 tons
June: 10.4 tons
July: 9.5 tons
August: 14.1 tons
September: 54.6 tons
October: 17.7 tons
November: 33.6 tons
December: 53.2 tons
Now. I believe that Smith badly misrepresents the so-called “No Fly” zone first established by the Americans in the south of Iraq in late August, 1992—a zone, as Smith defines it, “created to protect southern Shias after Saddam Hussein brutally suppressed their 1991 uprising against him.” (Recall that there also was one in the north, dating all the way back to early April, 1991.) But dealing with this here will only distract us from far more important game, I fear. So let us set it aside for the time being.
Instead what I have done here is lay out excerpts from a series of official Iraqi documents filed with the UN Security Council and the Secretary-General in which the now-ousted government of Saddam Hussein called to the UN’s attention on a regular, month-by-month, even systematic basis what these documents variously refer to as the “ongoing wanton aggression against Iraq by United States and British aircraft in the unlawful noflight zones,” quoting a formula that appears over and over again in the introductions to these documents straight through the very last one of their kind I’ve been able to find, January 25, 2003 (S/2003/108). Wherein we read (pp. 3-4):
In enforcing no-flight zones in northern and southern Iraq the United States and the United Kingdom have committed a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, the established norms of international law and the Security Council resolutions affirming respect for Iraq’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence. They are also guilty of armed aggression against Iraq, which has been ongoing since 1991 and is aimed at undermining our country’s political independence and territorial integrity and deliberately and systematically wiping out its population and civilian installations. It constitutes persistent State terrorism and gross interference in Iraq’s internal affairs.
The Secretary-General and his predecessor, Mr. Boutros-Ghali, have stated on more than one occasion that the United States and the United Kingdom imposed this measure unilaterally and that there is nothing in the resolutions of the Security Council that would authorize it.
The enforcement of the no-flight zones by the United Kingdom and the United States and the concomitant acts of aggression have been opposed and condemned by a majority of the States Members of the United Nations, including most of the permanent members of the Security Council. The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and the League of Arab States have also denounced this illegal use of force against Iraq’s security, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The entire international community has condemned the maintenance of the socalled no-flight zones as an unlawful act, as a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the established norms of international law and as a bellicose use of armed force against Iraq’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. Although the international community has condemned this daily aggression and State terrorism against an independent State, which has taken the lives of thousands of Iraqi citizens and caused enormous material losses, the United States and the United Kingdom continue to flout the Charter of the United Nations and the declared wish of the international community for a halt to this aggression. The Security Council has taken no action with regard to this terrorist aggression, and this raises serious questions about the credibility of the Security Council and the United Nations and about their capacity to apply the provisions of the Charter to all without distinction and to halt the acts of aggression that are being committed by two of the permanent members of the Council and constitute a threat to regional and international peace and security. This bellicose, terrorist conduct on the part of the United States and the United Kingdom once again confirms that they are not worthy of the authority conferred on them by Article 24 of the Charter, which gives primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security to the Security Council, acting on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations.
The logistic support being provided to the Americans and British by one of our neighbouring States — specifically Kuwait, which has transformed its territory into a base from which the United States threatens to commit aggression against Iraq — means that that country incurs full responsibility under international law, including liability for the payment of compensation for the losses and damage, in both human and material terms, caused by these unlawful practices.
The Government of Iraq calls for an immediate halt to internationally unlawful acts that violate Iraq’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, gravely endanger the security of its people and constitute a direct and serious threat to international peace and security.
In the context of the responsibilities assigned to you as they relate to the maintenance of international peace and security, we express the hope that you will endeavour to halt the ongoing United States and British aggression against Iraq and that you will urge the regional parties that are facilitating its continuation to desist from doing so.
What the series of excerpts reproduced below show us is that, just as the former British Defense Secretary in the Downing Street meeting of July 23, 2002 was to inform his co-conspirators that the “US had already begun ‘spikes of activity’ to put pressure on the regime,” so, too, the former government of Iraq was busy informing the United Nations in extensive detail that U.S. and U.K. warplanes already had begun bombing raids inside Iraqi territory (the first reported I believe having been Feb. 28, 2002), in preparation for their eventual ground invasion of Iraqi territory in March of the following year.
As Michael Smith reported in the June 26, 2005 Sunday Times (“General admits to secret air war“—I am using the Truthout link here because Truthout won’t change this link anytime soon):
The American general who commanded allied air forces during the Iraq war appears to have admitted in a briefing to American and British officers that coalition aircraft waged a secret air war against Iraq from the middle of 2002, nine months before the invasion began.
Addressing a briefing on lessons learnt from the Iraq war Lieutenant-General Michael Moseley said that in 2002 and early 2003 allied aircraft flew 21,736 sorties, dropping more than 600 bombs on 391 “carefully selected targets” before the war officially started.
The nine months of allied raids “laid the foundations” for the allied victory, Moseley said. They ensured that allied forces did not have to start the war with a protracted bombardment of Iraqi positions.
If those raids exceeded the need to maintain security in the no-fly zones of southern and northern Iraq, they would leave President George W Bush and Tony Blair vulnerable to allegations that they had acted illegally.
Moseley’s remarks have emerged after reports in The Sunday Times that showed an increase in allied bombing in southern Iraq was described in leaked minutes of a meeting of the war cabinet as “spikes of activity to put pressure on the regime”.
Moseley told the briefing at Nellis airbase in Nebraska on July 17, 2003, that the raids took place under cover of patrols of the southern no-fly zone; their purpose was ostensibly to protect the ethnic minorities.
A leaked memo previously disclosed by The Sunday Times, detailing a meeting chaired by the prime minister and attended by Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, Geoff Hoon, the then defence secretary, and Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, chief of defence staff, indicated that the US was carrying out the bombing.
But Moseley’s remarks, and figures for the amount of bombs dropped in southern Iraq during 2002, indicate that the RAF was taking as large a part in the bombing as American aircraft.
Details of the Moseley briefing come amid rising concern in the US at the war. A new poll shows 60% of Americans now believe it was a mistake.
Of course, the one and only factor that rendered “secret” this prolonged U.S.-U.K. air war over Iraq (and the way it looks to me from a reading of the Iraqi documents, it had begun in earnest by the second-half of April, 2002) was that the Iraqi complaints to the United Nations were not acted upon by the Security Council, were not publicized as evidence of a grave threat to international peace and security by the Secretary-General, and were not picked up and made a theme of reporting by the English-language news media in those two states that bore and still do bear the singular responsibility for the criminal war and its disastrous aftermath.
I can not tell you whether 100 percent of the bombings and violations of Iraqi airspace recounted in document after document actually happened as the Iraqis claimed at the time. Still. In the case at hand, we know that the liars par excellence were the American and the British political leaderships. And I would be happy to wager anyone so inclined that upwards of 100 percent of the factual claims to be found in these Iraqi documents were faithfully reported. Providing us with the kind of track record which, if true, only goes to underscore the complicity of the UN Security Council and the Secretary-General in the criminal conspiracy that eventuated in the U.S.-U.K. invasion of Iraq.
About which, more another time.
FYA (“For your archives”): A quick note about what follows: In each case, the date represents the date for which the Iraqi government was reporting particular incidents to the United Nations. The second piece of information represents the location of the Iraqi documents within the UN bibliographic system. The number of “sorties” (a term that includes all reported violations of Iraqi airspace by U.S. and U.K. warplanes, whether for bombing purposes or for some other purpose) in each case is drawn from each of the documents. (Note that where I’ve typed [???], this means that I’ve found a discrepancy between the total number of sorties reported by the Iraqis, and the component numbers that the Iraqis reported went into it.) The excerpted passages also are in each drawn directly from the documents. Though the documents themselves provide far greater detail than I’ve bothered to reproduce here. Thus the specific Iraqi documents I’ve cited (i.e., principally the ones in the regular, monthly series that cover the 13-month period from Dec. 16, 2001 – Jan. 15, 2002 (S/2002/171) through Dec. 18, 2002 – Jan. 17, 2003 (S/2003/108), at which point this series dried up, no doubt under the pressure of the looming war) contain a lot more detail than I’ve conveyed in my very abbreviated cites. But the factual claims about airspace violations and provocations and bombing raids run on for pages and pages, and reproducing them in full here strikes me as too much, particularly given the fact that I can provide electronic links to direct readers to the UN bibliographic system’s archived copy of each and every document.
* Dec. 16, 2001 – Jan. 15, 2002 (S/2002/171): 336 sorties
* Jan. 16, 2002 – Feb. 15, 2002 (S/2002/225): 537 sorties
* Feb. 16, 2002 – March 15, 2002 (S/2002/309): 306 sorties
On 28 February 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Ninawa governorate, wounding three citizens and damaging some civilian and military installations. (p. 2)
* March 16, 2002 – April 15, 2002 (S/2002/499): 367 sorties
* April 16, 2002 – May 16, 2002 (S/2002/588): 844 sorties
[O]n 19 April 2002 United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Ninawa Governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 1 May 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Ninawa Governorate, killing one citizen and wounding five others and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 3 May 2002, two United States warplanes broke the sound barrier in the Umm Qasr area of Basrah Governorate, breaking windowpanes in homes and government offices. (p. 2)* May 17, 2002 – June 16, 2002 (S/2002/721): 992 sorties
[O] n 20 May 2002 United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Muthanna Governorate, wounding a number of citizens and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 23 May 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar Governorate, killing two citizens and wounding two others and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 24 May 2002, United States and British warplanes bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar Governorate, wounding 16 citizens and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 28 May 2002, United States and British warplanes bombed civilian and military sites in Ninawa Governorate, wounding five citizens and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 30 May 2002, United States and British warplanes bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar Governorate, wounding three citizens and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 14 June 2002, United States and British warplanes bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan Governorate, wounding one female citizen, damaging oil pipelines and breaking windowpanes in homes. (p. 2)* June 18, 2002 – July 15, 2002 (S/2002/858): 938 sorties
[O]n 19 June 2002 United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Ninawa Governorate, wounding one citizen and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 20 June 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan Governorate, killing four citizens and wounding 10 others and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 28 June 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan Governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 4 July 2002, United States and British warplanes bombed civilian and military sites in Ninawa Governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 13 July 2002, United States and British warplanes bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar Governorate, wounding seven citizens and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 14 July 2002, United States and British warplanes bombed civilian and military sites in Najaf Governorate, killing one citizen and wounding six others and damaging civilian and military installations. (p. 2)* July 16, 2002 – Aug. 17, 2002 (S/2002/963): 1,119 sorties
[O]n 19 July 2002 United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Qadisiyah governorate, killing five citizens, wounding 17 others and damaging homes and civilian and military installations.
On 23 July 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Qadisiyah governorate, killing one citizen, wounding 22 others and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 28 July 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Wasit governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 15 August 2002, United States and British warplanes bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan governorate, wounding three citizens and damaging civilian and military installations.
On the same day, United States and British warplanes bombed civilian and military sites in Wasit governorate, damaging civilian and military installations, as set forth in the statement enclosed herein. (p. 2)* Aug. 18, 2002 – Sept. 17, 2002 (S/2002/1107): 1,140 sorties
[O]n 20 August 2002 United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan Governorate, wounding three citizens and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 23 August 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Ninawa Governorate, killing 12 head of sheep belonging to a citizen.
On 28 August 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Wasit Governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 25 August 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Basrah Governorate, killing six citizens, wounding eight others and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 26 August 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan Governorate, wounding one citizen and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 27 August 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Najaf Governorate, damaging civilian and military installations. On the same day, United States and British aircraft bombed Mosul airport, damaging its radar installation.
On 29 August 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Wasit Governorate, wounding one citizen and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 30 August 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Wasit Governorate, wounding one citizen and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 5 September 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Anbar Governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 7 September 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Wasit Governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 9 September 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan Governorate, damaging civilian and military installations. (p. 2)* Sept. 18, 2002 – Oct. 17, 2002 (S/2002/1222): 1,055 sorties
[O]n 25 September 2002 United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan and Dhi Qar governorates, wounding one citizen and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 26 September 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar and Najaf governorates, wounding one citizen and damaging civilian and military installations. They also bombed the Basrah civilian radar installation in Basrah governorate and damaged it.
On 28 September 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar and Maysan governorates, wounding one citizen and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 29 September 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Basrah and Dhi Qar governorates, damaging civilian and military installations. On the same day, United States and British aircraft bombed Basrah international airport, wrecking its radar installation.
On 2 October 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Wasit governorate, wounding three citizens and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 3 October 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar governorate, killing five citizens, wounding 15 others and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 9 October 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Ninawa governorate, killing four citizens, wounding 10 others and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 10 October 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar governorate, damaging civilian and military installations. On the same day, United States and British aircraft bombed Basrah international airport, wrecking its radar installation.
On 11 October 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar governorate, damaging civilian and military installations. (p. 2)* Oct. 18, 2002 – Nov. 17, 2002 (S/2002/1316): 839 sorties
[O]n 22 October 2002 United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Ninawa governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 23 October 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar and Wasit governorates, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 30 October 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in the northern governorates, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 6 November 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Wasit and Dhi Qar governorates, killing three citizens and wounding another and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 7 November 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Wasit governorate, wounding three citizens and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 11 November 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 15 November 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Najaf governorate, killing seven citizens and wounding four others and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 17 November 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Ninawa governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
In addition to these military acts of aggression, United States and British warplanes dropped thousands of leaflets in Iraqi territory during the month calling upon Iraqi forces not to engage attacking United States and British aircraft. (p. 2)* Nov. 18, 2002 – Dec. 17, 2002 (S/2002/1439): 1,342 sorties [???]
[O]n 18 November 2002 United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Ninawa governorate, damaging civilian and military installations. On the same day such aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan and Dhi Qar governorates, wounding four citizens and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 20 November 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Basrah governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 21 November 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Basrah and Dhi Qar governorates, damaging civilian and military installations and destroying a radar system in Basrah governorate.
On 22 November 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Basrah governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 23 November 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 28 November 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Ninawa governorate, killing one citizen and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 1 December 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Basrah and Dhi Qar governorates, killing four citizens and wounding 27 others and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 2 December 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Ninawa governorate, wounding one child and damaging a citizen’s houses as well as civilian and military installations.
On 10 December 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 14 December 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar and Maysan governorates, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 15 December 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar and Basrah governorates, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 16 December 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar governorate, damaging civilian and military installations. (pp. 2-3)* December 1, 2002 (S/2002/1327):
[O]n 1 December 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed the installations of the South Oil Company near a residential district of the city of Basra. Four citizens died in the bombing, including three employees of the South Oil Company, and 27 were wounded, including 10 company employees. The raid also destroyed many installations, a great deal of technical apparatus and many fully equipped buildings belonging to the South Oil Company. (p. 2)
* December 26, 2002 (S/2002/1438):
[O]n 26 December 2002 United States and British aircraft coming from Kuwait and supported by an E-2C aircraft from within Kuwaiti airspace fired a number of rockets at civilian, religious and service establishments, including
broadcasting facilities, in the Basra and Nasiriyah governorates. This brutal aggression resulted in the death of three citizens and the wounding of 16 others, as well as the total destruction of a mosque on the outskirts of the city of Nasiriyah, a few metres from the house of the Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him. The aggression further caused damage to broadcasting facilities in the Basra and Nasiriyah governorates. (p. 2)* Dec. 18, 2002 – Jan. 17, 2003 (S/2003/108): 1,361 sorties [the first entry appears to have been misdated]
[O]n 1 December 2002 United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar and Wassit governorates, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 20 December 2002, United States and British aircraft again bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar and Wassit governorates, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 26 December 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites as well as radio broadcasting stations in Basrah and Dhi Qar governorates, killing three citizens and damaging a number of civilian and military installations.
On 29 December 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Qadissiya and Dhi Qar governorates, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 30 December 2002, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 1 January 2003, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan governorate, killing one citizen, wounding two others and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 2 January 2003, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Basrah and Maysan governorates, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 3 January 2003, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 4 January 2003, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan governorate, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 5 January 2003, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar and Maysan governorates, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 6 January 2003, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Maysan governorate, killing two citizens, wounding three others and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 8 January 2003, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar and Basrah governorates, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 10 January 2003, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar and Maysan governorates, damaging civilian and military installations.
On 13 January 2003, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Basrah governorate, wounding six citizens and damaging civilian and military installations.
On 17 January 2003, United States and British aircraft bombed civilian and military sites in Dhi Qar governorate, damaging civilian and military installations. (pp. 2-3)* February 11-14, 2003 (S/2003/230):
During the period from 11 to 14 February 2003, a group of United States helicopters violated Iraq’s airspace and international borders in the area of Makr al-Ni`am and Nukhayb west of Ar`ar. This is a flagrant encroachment on Iraq’s territory and independence and is in breach of all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council. (p. 1)
Impeach ‘Em All, ZNet, November 13, 2004
The Blair Era, ZNet, April 30, 2005
The Downing Street Memos, ZNet, June 15, 2005
No Memo Required, ZNet, July 1, 2005
“Spikes of Activity”, ZNet, July 4, 2005
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