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Coalition aircraft fired on in Iraq's no-fly zone
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Coalition aircraft were fired on in a no-fly zone over Iraq Monday. There are two no-fly zones -- one in the north, one in the south. They are patrolled by U.S. and British planes based in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. A U.N. Security Council resolution orders Iraq not to fire on the planes. CNN Anchor Wolf Blitzer asked CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr whether the shootings are a material breach of the resolution. STARR: Wolf, that is the essential question that is facing the Bush administration, because it's becoming increasingly clear day-by-day that the Iraqis have absolutely no intention, according to administration officials, of stopping this shooting war with the United States over the no-fly zones. Since last Friday, there have been four incidents over both the northern and southern no-fly zones -- and as you mentioned, the latest one was earlier today with U.S. aircraft engaging targets in the northern no-fly zone. Over the weekend, there were incidents in the southern no-fly zone, and the U.S. also dropped leaflets over southern Iraq. This was the fourth leaflet drop -- about 120,000 leaflets urging the Iraqi military forces on the ground in the no-fly zones not to engage U.S. aircraft and to stop their firing. But all of this, as you say, raises the question about whether or not Iraq has now committed what is known as a material breach of the U.N. resolution, and whether this might send the Bush administration back to the U.N. Security Council seeking a new vote initiating possible military action. This phrase "material breach" is one that we are going to clearly hear a great deal about in the days and weeks ahead. Traveling in South America today, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was asked about this, and he said it is going to be up to the Security Council to decide what exactly constitutes a material breach. At the White House, a spokesman said ... these Iraqi firings are a violation, but again, he would not say whether this would lead the United States to now go back to the Security Council and ask for some additional action that could lead to U.S. military action against Iraq. Military officials here at the Pentagon point out there is one sort of delicate problem in calling this a material breach and initiating military action, and that is Iraq has been doing this for over 10 years. It would be a very delicate situation for the U.S. to now suddenly stand up, they say, declare this is a material breach, and that it would be grounds for going to war. But it is very, very clear Rumsfeld is becoming increasingly frustrated. He told reporters earlier today that he wanted to remind people this is the only place in the world where U.S. pilots are fired upon, and there is a measured response by the U.S. military. He pointed out in any other case, there would not be such a measured response. So, we'll be seeing in the days ahead whether or not this is a material breach and whether or not the U.S. wants the United Nations to now declare it one. BLITZER: One additional footnote. ... [T]hese shots that are fired at U.S. planes ... give the warplanes an opportunity to knock out certain targets in the northern and southern no-fly zones ... that they presumably wouldn't have [had], perhaps even softening up some of the battlefield in advance of a war. Is that some of the silver lining that officials look at? STARR: Well, hard to know whether it's a silver lining, because of course what military officials will tell you [is that] anytime someone is firing at you it's very serious and potentially quite dangerous. But you're right. What the U.S. warplanes certainly are doing over both of the no-fly zones is monitoring and marking off where the Iraqis have moved either their surface-to-air missile launchers, their anti-aircraft artillery, or other elements of their air defense system. By maintaining these constant patrols over the area, the pilots maintain a real good sense of where the Iraqi weapons are and whether they have anything on the move, where they might be shifting to, and any new tactics that the Iraqis might be trying to use against coalition pilots. So, it's an essential intelligence-gathering tool for them almost every day. But Secretary Rumsfeld is making it very clear [that] he wants this firing to stop. BLITZER: Over the past 10 years it's been going on ... no U.S. warplane has been shot down, or a British warplane for that matter. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- thanks very much for that explanation.
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