Iraq War

:For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation)

Prelude to invasion

Prior to invasion, the United States and other coalition forces involved in the 1991 Persian Gulf War had been engaged in a low-level conflict with Iraq, enforcing Iraqi no-fly zones. Iraqi air-defense installations were engaged on a fairly regular basis after repeatedly targeting American and British air patrols. In mid-2002, the U.S. began to change its response strategy, more carefully selecting targets in the southern part of the country in order to disrupt the military command structure in Iraq. A change in enforcement tactics was acknowledged at the time, but it was not made public that this was part of a plan known as Operation Southern Focus.

Related Topics:
Persian Gulf War - Iraqi no-fly zones - Operation Southern Focus

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The weight of bombs dropped increased from 0 in March 2002 and 0.3 in April 2002 to between 8 and 14 tons per month in May to August, reaching a pre-war peak of 54.6 tons in September - prior to Congress' 11 October authorisation of the invasion. The September attacks included a 5 September 100-aircraft attack on the main air defence site in western Iraq. According to The New Statesman this was "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."http://www.newstatesman.com/200505300013

Related Topics:
11 October - Authorisation of the invasion - 5 September - The New Statesman

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