-Caveat Lector- ""The crisis unfolded quickly after chief inspector Richard Butler ordered his monitors out of the country, accusing Iraq of obstructing their search for weapons of mass destruction."" http://www.jsonline.com/news/iraq/1216bomb1.asp
Blasts light the night over Baghdad after U.S. airstrikes Associated Press December 16, 1998 Baghdad, Iraq -- Anti-aircraft guns opened fire over Baghdad early Thursday, and orange tracers lighted the sky. The guns let loose volley after volley of shots as U.S. and British officials announced airstrikes. Special Section: US-IRAQ CONFLICT Latest Update Clinton's statement Crucial events in the confrontation between Iraq and U.S. U.S. strikes begin; expected to last for days China condemns use of force against Iraq as bombs fall Clinton says defiance of arms inspectors forced attack Biographical sketches of Saddam Hussein's inner circle House Republicans OK delay in impeachment proceedings Reaction from Wisconsin to attack against Iraq Text of news briefing with Defense Secretary Cohen and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Shelton Reactions from leaders to the strikes against Iraq Text of news briefing with Secretary of State Albright on attack against Iraq The post-midnight firing came after sirens broke the night's silence and just before Washington announced airstrikes on military and security installations. No attacking planes or missiles were immediately seen over the Iraqi capital, and unlike during previous Western alliance attacks on Baghdad, there was no blackout. The state-run television station continued to broadcast pictures of President Saddam Hussein meeting with the ruling Baath Party officials on Wednesday. The TV did not mention the attack. Along with the anti-aircraft fire, at least one blast was heard and television pictures showed a huge fiery glow on the horizon. Smoke could be seen trailing into the dark sky in the distance. There had been no immediate reports of casualties, and the streets of Baghdad were nearly empty. The Iraqi blasts created loud explosions, violently shaking the glass windows of the Information Ministry building near the center of Baghdad where foreign reporters are based. The explosions began at 12:49 a.m. Thursday (4:49 p.m. EST Wednesday). A barrage of blasts lighted the sky several hours after the Clinton administration warned that it would make a military strike against Iraq at any time. President Clinton ordered airstrikes on Iraq over a protracted impasse with Iraq over U.N. weapons inspections just minutes before the blasts began. Less than an hour later, Prime Minister Tony Blair announced the British had participated in the airstrikes. An Iraqi official seemed resigned to the attack. "We have done everything in our capacity," Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Nizar Hamdoon said at the United Nations. Earlier in the day, long lines formed outside Baghdad gas stations and customers cursed Clinton for planning an attack before the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin Sunday. "It seems that Clinton ... wants to kill some people in a hurry out of respect for Ramadan," said Amin Jadir, a government worker. The crisis unfolded quickly after chief inspector Richard Butler ordered his monitors out of the country, accusing Iraq of obstructing their search for weapons of mass destruction. In Washington, Clinton met with his top national security advisers before ordering the attack, and the U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting in New York on the crisis. Blair blamed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein for precipitating the impasse: "This action could have been avoided. ... Our quarrel is with him alone and the evil regime which he represents." In Baghdad, a special joint meeting of the decision-making Revolutionary Command Council and the ruling Baath Party issued a statement, saying Iraqis can "depend on God to knock the dreams out of ... (the) empty heads" of the United States and Britain, which has backed the U.S. line on Iraq. The airstrikes Thursday are the first large-scale military action against Iraq since September 1996. Over two days, U.S. ships and jets fired scores of cruise missiles at Iraqi anti-missile sites to punish the Iraqi military for venturing into the Kurdish "safe haven" in northern Iraq. Air raid sirens sounded briefly in Baghdad shortly before midnight local time. Earlier, Iraqi television interrupted regular programming to play patriotic music and footage of Iraqi commandos training with machine guns, hand grenades and rocket- propelled grenade launchers. Earlier Wednesday, three trucks loaded with luggage left the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. About a half-hour later, three busloads of weapons inspectors also left the U.N. compound, followed by four white U.N. cars carrying spare tires on top. Most of the 140 inspectors, who work for the U.N. Special Commission, or UNSCOM, flew aboard a special U.N. plane from an airbase outside Baghdad to the gulf state of Bahrain. "All international staff ... have been pulled out from Baghdad," UNSCOM spokeswoman Caroline Cross said in Bahrain. "There is nobody left behind." The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is monitoring Iraq's compliance on dismantling its nuclear program, also withdrew its staff from Baghdad. UNSCOM is responsible for eliminating Iraq's chemical and biological weapons. Until these weapons are destroyed, the United Nations will lift economic sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, which led to the Persian Gulf war. Iraq says it has complied with every U.N. demand, and accuses Butler of prolonging the inspections at the behest of the United States. On Tuesday, Butler gave a report to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in which he said Iraq's claim to be free of banned weapons "cannot be accepted without further verification." But verification is impossible as Iraq is obstructing the inspectors, he said. Journal Sentinel Online Inside News � Copyright 2000, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. All rights reserved. Forwarded for your information. 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