June 8 2000 Times of London Sharp rise in RAF attacks on Iraq BY MICHAEL EVANS RAF bombing of Iraqi air defence sites has increased sharply in the past 18 months, according to the latest figures published by the Ministry of Defence. Since mid-December 1998 RAF bombers have dropped 78 tonnes of bombs on Iraqi military targets; that compares with 2.5 tonnes between April 1991, after the Gulf War, and mid-December 1998. The MoD's figures show that the average monthly release of bombs has risen from 0.025 tonnes to five tonnes. Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat spokesman on Foreign Affairs and Defence, who acquired the figures from parliamentary answers, said yesterday: "The number of occasions on which ordnance has been released together with the total tonnage raises questions about the true purpose of these operations." He added: "There is persuasive evidence that there is an attritional campaign against the Iraqi ground-based air defence systems. This represents a significant policy shift which has never been explained to Parliament." The MoD said yesterday that the reason for the increase was "because we've been shot at and threatened far more since December 20, 1998, than in the previous period."
