One year ago, Iraq began shooting at U.S. and British planes patrolling the "no-fly" zones

December 28, 1999
Web posted at: 2:04 a.m. EST (0704 GMT)

In this story: Iragis measure international sympathy Iraqis start targeting U.S., British warplanes U.S. commanders said to question policy RELATED STORIES, SITES

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A year ago this month, the United States and Britain unleashed a four-day air war -- "Operation Desert Fox" -- against Iraqi strategic targets. A year ago Tuesday, Iraq began shooting at U.S. and British planes patrolling the "no-fly" zones over Iraq.

Now, leaders on both sides offer no regrets about their military stances.

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Iraqis have been marking the anniversary of Operation Desert Fox with nationwide protests.

"A year ago there was an aggression by American and British forces against Iraq," said Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Nabil Nijm. "After one year, the Iraqi people show support for their president."

"The American and Zionist enemy knows your voice, and he fears it," said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in a recent speech to Iraqi army officers. He has repeatedly said Iraq can ward off its aggressors.

Hundreds of cruise missiles were fired on Iraq during Operation Desert Fox

Operation Desert Fox was a four-day U.S. and British barrage of hundreds of aircraft sorties and cruise missile attacks aimed at targets throughout Iraq, including weapons facilities and command centers.

U.S. President Bill Clinton said he approved the campaign in response to Iraq's refusal to cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors, trying to ensure that Iraq was destroying its weapons of mass destruction programs in accordance with the agreement that ended the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

One year later, Iraq's leadership describes all U.S.-led attacks on the country as blatant aggression. It says the United States is angry over Iraq's unwillingness to bow to U.S. demands.

Some Iraqis, shopping in Baghdad during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, say they feel more international sympathy since last year's attacks.

"The people of the world, they know what is happening to us," said one Iraqi demonstrator. "So they care now for us, not like last year, or the eight years before."

A few weeks after Operation Desert Fox, on December 28, 1998, a U.S. F-15 fighter took out an Iraqi surface-to-air missile launcher that had fired on a U.S. plane earlier in the day.

That was the opening volley in a new military stance by Iraq, to try to shoot down U.S. and British warplanes patrolling the so-called "no-fly" zones over northern and southern Iraq.

The zones were established following the Gulf War, to protect Iraqi minorities, Kurdish rebels in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south, from air attacks by Iraqi warplanes.

During the past year, U.S and British warplanes have bombed Iraq on 138 separate days, attacking more than 450 targets and dropping more than 1,800 bombs -- all, insists the Pentagon, in response to Iraqi provocations.

Hussein has offered rewards to any soldiers who shoot down U.S. or British planes over the no-fly zones.

Sources say U.S. commanders have privately questioned the wisdom of enforcing the no-fly policy, since it costs $1 billion a year and puts U.S. pilots at daily risk.

But the Pentagon, seeking to keep the pressure on, insists the bombing won't end unless Iraq stops threatening U.S. and British planes.

"We intend to continue the enforcement in the no-fly zones, and we are quite aware of the risks," said U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen.

"Our pilots have been very good, outstanding as a matter of fact, in carrying out their missions. We see no change in the immediate future from continuing to enforce the no-fly zone," Cohen said.

Other U.S. officials suggest that Hussein might be the one to consider changing tactics.

"He has a choice now between cooperation and confrontation," said Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon. "Confrontation has not gotten him what he wanted. It might be time for him to try cooperation."

Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre and Correspondent James Martone contributed to this report.

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