Iraq To Need U.S. Air Force For 'A While,' Chief Of Staff Says
By Tony Capaccio
Bloomberg
June 13, 2006
U.S. pilots will be flying attack missions like the one that killed terrorist leader Abu Musab al- Zarqawi for "a while," because the Iraqi government is concentrating on deploying soldiers and police, according to the Air Force chief of staff.
The Iraqi Air Force, lacking warplanes and training, is only in the early stages of setting up reconnaissance and transportation of cargo and troops, and is not yet developing an attack capability, General Michael Moseley said late yesterday in an interview.
``I see nothing that tells us less intra-theater lift, or less intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance or less strike support or less ability to do time-critical targets will manifest itself,'' Moseley said in his Pentagon office.
Moseley's remarks signal the U.S. Air Force role -- which has shifted from attacking large formations of forces to counter-insurgency raids, surveillance of roads used by truck convoys and spotting roadside bombs -- won't be reduced in Iraq even as commanders consider thinning U.S. ground forces.
President George W. Bush arrived today in Baghdad to confer with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose government is stepping up efforts to bring order to the country amid insurgent bombings and violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.
The general declined to speculate on how long U.S. Air Force personnel and aircraft would be supporting Iraqi forces.
``After Desert Storm'' in January 1991, ``I don't know that I would have told you we'd be flying `no-fly zones' for 12 years,'' over northern and southern Iraq prior to the March 2003 invasion, Moseley said. The patrols were intended to restrict the movement of dictator Saddam Hussein's forces.
Air Force aircraft the day al-Zarqawi was killed flew 34 ground attack missions in Iraq while 16 Air Force, Navy and U.K. Royal Air Force aircraft flew reconnaissance missions. C-130 and C-17 transports also flew about 170 sorties throughout the region, including Afghanistan, delivering about 390 tons of cargo, according to Air Force statistics.
The two F-16 aircraft called in to strike the isolated house where al-Zarqawi and his aides hid were originally flying a mission to spot roadside bombs and insurgent mortar locations using a reconnaissance device called the Litening II, Moseley said. The equipment is built by Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. and Rafael Corp. of Israel, which initially developed the technology for the Israeli Air Force.
Pilots use the pods slung under their fuselages to see a magnified picture of roads and compare those images to pictures taken earlier to detect signs of change. The pods were used to locate al-Zarqawi's hideout, monitor movement and check coordinates, and guide the first bomb with a laser beam, he said.
The pilot two minutes later dropped a Boeing Co. 500-pound satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition, Moseley said.
Such a mission is beyond the capabilities of the Iraqi Air Force. It consists of about 600 personnel, small numbers of single-engine propeller reconnaissance aircraft, three Lockheed Martin Corp. C-130 transports and 32 older helicopters, according to the Pentagon's latest assessment of Iraq's military capabilities.
``The Iraqi Air Force continues to make progress in developing some capabilities to support counter-insurgency operations,'' the Pentagon said.
The U.S. Air Force is only now starting to determine the type of training, qualifications and numbers of Iraq ground forces capable of directing ground attacks, Moseley said.
``We are beginning to get into the notions of what it would take to train selected members of them to do this sort of thing, and we are not there yet,'' Moseley said.
Moseley said that he was not surprised that al-Zarqawi, who eventually died from blast injuries to his lungs, initially survived the June 7 attack on his hideout.
``Here's what you don't know,'' Moseley said. ``What did the inside of the room look like? Where was he relative to penetration of the weapon? What was the delay fuse on the weapon? How low to the ground was he? Was he standing up?'' ``If he escaped the bomb chards and escaped being blasted up against the wall, then the overpressure takes a little time for you to bleed out,'' Moseley said. ``It's just not pretty.''
Bloomberg
June 13, 2006
U.S. pilots will be flying attack missions like the one that killed terrorist leader Abu Musab al- Zarqawi for "a while," because the Iraqi government is concentrating on deploying soldiers and police, according to the Air Force chief of staff.
The Iraqi Air Force, lacking warplanes and training, is only in the early stages of setting up reconnaissance and transportation of cargo and troops, and is not yet developing an attack capability, General Michael Moseley said late yesterday in an interview.
``I see nothing that tells us less intra-theater lift, or less intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance or less strike support or less ability to do time-critical targets will manifest itself,'' Moseley said in his Pentagon office.
Moseley's remarks signal the U.S. Air Force role -- which has shifted from attacking large formations of forces to counter-insurgency raids, surveillance of roads used by truck convoys and spotting roadside bombs -- won't be reduced in Iraq even as commanders consider thinning U.S. ground forces.
President George W. Bush arrived today in Baghdad to confer with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose government is stepping up efforts to bring order to the country amid insurgent bombings and violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.
The general declined to speculate on how long U.S. Air Force personnel and aircraft would be supporting Iraqi forces.
``After Desert Storm'' in January 1991, ``I don't know that I would have told you we'd be flying `no-fly zones' for 12 years,'' over northern and southern Iraq prior to the March 2003 invasion, Moseley said. The patrols were intended to restrict the movement of dictator Saddam Hussein's forces.
Air Force aircraft the day al-Zarqawi was killed flew 34 ground attack missions in Iraq while 16 Air Force, Navy and U.K. Royal Air Force aircraft flew reconnaissance missions. C-130 and C-17 transports also flew about 170 sorties throughout the region, including Afghanistan, delivering about 390 tons of cargo, according to Air Force statistics.
The two F-16 aircraft called in to strike the isolated house where al-Zarqawi and his aides hid were originally flying a mission to spot roadside bombs and insurgent mortar locations using a reconnaissance device called the Litening II, Moseley said. The equipment is built by Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. and Rafael Corp. of Israel, which initially developed the technology for the Israeli Air Force.
Pilots use the pods slung under their fuselages to see a magnified picture of roads and compare those images to pictures taken earlier to detect signs of change. The pods were used to locate al-Zarqawi's hideout, monitor movement and check coordinates, and guide the first bomb with a laser beam, he said.
The pilot two minutes later dropped a Boeing Co. 500-pound satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition, Moseley said.
Such a mission is beyond the capabilities of the Iraqi Air Force. It consists of about 600 personnel, small numbers of single-engine propeller reconnaissance aircraft, three Lockheed Martin Corp. C-130 transports and 32 older helicopters, according to the Pentagon's latest assessment of Iraq's military capabilities.
``The Iraqi Air Force continues to make progress in developing some capabilities to support counter-insurgency operations,'' the Pentagon said.
The U.S. Air Force is only now starting to determine the type of training, qualifications and numbers of Iraq ground forces capable of directing ground attacks, Moseley said.
``We are beginning to get into the notions of what it would take to train selected members of them to do this sort of thing, and we are not there yet,'' Moseley said.
Moseley said that he was not surprised that al-Zarqawi, who eventually died from blast injuries to his lungs, initially survived the June 7 attack on his hideout.
``Here's what you don't know,'' Moseley said. ``What did the inside of the room look like? Where was he relative to penetration of the weapon? What was the delay fuse on the weapon? How low to the ground was he? Was he standing up?'' ``If he escaped the bomb chards and escaped being blasted up against the wall, then the overpressure takes a little time for you to bleed out,'' Moseley said. ``It's just not pretty.''
posted by Hanan Elbadry at 9:53 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home