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Iraq invasion started in 2002 In June of 2002, the US military began a bombing offensive against Iraq carefully designed to pave the way for the invasion. The air attacks were at the time portrayed as part of the longstanding US and British policy of militarily controlling the airspace over Iraq called "no-fly-zones." Last Thursday (July 18, 2003) at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, US General Moseley and other military officials presented their assessment of the "Southern Focus" strategy. >From June 2002 until the beginning of the Iraq war in mid-March 2003, a total of 606 bombs were dropped on 391 targets in an operation involving 21,736 sorties over Iraq. US military commanders credit this air campaign with effectively destroying Iraq's military communications and eliminating Iraqi antiaircraft defenses prior to the March 2003 declaration of war. The acknowledgment that the Pentagon proceeded with its invasion of Iraq from June 2002, means the US Congressional debate and vote in the fall of 2002, to give President Bush authority to attack Iraq was a fraud. It means the United Nations promises that a renewed round of weapons inspection could prevent the US invasion was nothing but a cruel farce. Remember the popular slogan "Stop the War Before it Starts!" of the US antiwar organizations? It had already begun. On a separate issue, the July 19, 03 New York Times article (URL below) 'US Attacked Iraqi Defenses Starting in 2002' on the Southern Focus bombing campaign provides this startling admission of the complete disregard for the lives of the Iraqi people at the highest level of the US Defense Department. "Air war commanders were required to obtain the approval of Defense Secretary Donald L. Rumsfeld if any planned airstrike was thought likely to result in deaths of more than 30 civilians. More than 50 such strikes were proposed, and all of them were approved." In solidarity Bob Allen Philadelphia Pa http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/20/international/20MILI.html _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk