Up to 100 Allied jets attack Iraqi military base
Up to 100 British and US jets were involved in the bombing of a military facility southwest of Baghdad after Iraqi forces attacked one of their patrols in the no-fly zone, it emerged today.
The attack came as Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair said Britain was willing to pay a "blood price" in its special relationship with the US and be there "when the shooting starts".
Coalition aircraft used precision-guided weapons to hit an air defence command and control facility at a military airfield 240 miles west and slightly south of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, the US Central Command said.
"Coalition strikes in the no-fly zones are executed as a self-defence measure in response to Iraqi hostile threats and acts against coalition forces and their aircraft," the command said in a statement.
The strike was in the southern zone, set up to protect Shiite Muslims, and it was the 25th one in the zone this year. In the northern zone, set up to protect Kurds, there have been 10 this year.
Both groups were given the protection against Iraqi overflights after unsuccessfully revolting against the regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Most of the aircraft, including tankers and Awacs reconnaissance planes, were acting in a support role for a total of 12 fighter jets believed to be US F-16s and British Tornados, it was reported.
Britain's Ministry of Defence today confirmed that a "large number of planes" took part in the operation.
Last night’s raid was the 35th air strike reported this year by the Anglo-American coalition put together to patrol zones in the north and south of Iraq following the 1991 Gulf War.
Tony Blair, who was today preparing for talks with President George W Bush on how to deal with the threat of Saddam Hussein, said he would never back the US if he thought it was wrong.
But questioned about the historical relationship between London and Washington in a BBC documentary to be screened on Sunday, Mr Blair said military action was sometimes "inevitable".
His remarks - likely to enrage British Labour MPs and unions concerned about strikes on Baghdad - will be echoed today by Britain's Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, who will warn that patience with Saddam Hussein is running out.
Mr Straw will tell an audience of diplomats and academics that unless Saddam cooperates with UN inspectors there are "no guarantees" that he will not use weapons of mass destruction against the world.
The British premier will meet President Bush at Camp David tomorrow amid clear signs that significant military strikes on Baghdad will take place soon. Yesterday President Bush said "history has called us into action" against Iraq.
Mr Blair, in the BBC2 programme Hotline to the President, was asked by presenter Michael Cockerell if he recognised that "one of the elements of the special relationship for the Americans is that Britain is prepared to send troops to commit themselves, to pay a blood price?"
The premier replied: "Yes. What is important too is that at moments of crisis they (the US) don’t need to know simply that you are giving general expressions of support and sympathy.
"That is easy, frankly. They need to know: ‘Are you prepared to commit, are you prepared to be there when the shooting starts?'"
Asked about President Bush’s apparent desire to attack Iraq, Mr Blair said: "In the end, Britain is a sovereign nation. Britain decides its own policy and although I back America I would never back America if I thought they were doing something wrong.
"If I thought that by committing military action in a way that was wrong, I would not support it. But I have never found that and I don’t expect to find it in the future."
Britain's Prime Minister said he was very reluctant ever to get into military action. "But there are some times in which it is inevitable.
"We are not at the stage of decision on Iraq, and there are all sorts of different ways in which we might decide to deal with this Iraqi problem in the end.
"But what you cannot do is to say that this issue of weapons of mass destruction, proliferation of chemical weapons, biological weapons and nuclear capability in the hands of highly unstable states - that these are issues that don’t need to be dealt with."
Mr Straw, in a speech today designed to mark the anniversary of September 11 by warning of the dangers of failed states like Afghanistan, is to stress that military action remains an option.
Speaking at Birmingham University, the Foreign Secretary will say that far from a failed state Iraq is one which is "excessively strong" and centralised.
"In his single-minded pursuit of an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein has undermined global security - and flouted international law - for over a decade.
"Until Saddam cooperates fully with UN weapons inspectors, we have no guarantees that a dictator who has previously shown no restraint in using weapons of mass destruction will not use them again.
"In these circumstances it would be wildly irresponsible to argue that patience with Iraq should be unlimited, or that military action should not be an option."
But, Mr Straw will say, threats to global order should be dealt with "within the existing legal framework".
The tough talking from Britain's Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary is likely to cause concern among Labour MPs, Liberal Democrats, the unions and the wider public about British involvement in a war in Iraq.
Although Downing Street insisted that Parliament would be consulted before British troops were committed to another Gulf War, the British government has rejected calls for a recall of Parliament ahead of the Camp David talks tomorrow.
A survey of Labour backbench MPs today suggested an overwhelming majority are unconvinced of the need for military action and want Parliament consulted.
Of 100 who agreed to take part in a survey for the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, 88 said there were currently insufficient grounds to declare war on Iraq.
Holding a Commons debate before any decision was taken was supported by 86 and 56 wanted a debate and a vote on the issue at the Labour party conference later this month.
The British Foreign Secretary will join the US president in New York at a UN meeting following the first anniversary of September 11.
Arab states have come out to declare their allegiance to Iraq by saying US threats against Baghdad were threats against the whole Arab world.
Iraq says it is ready to discuss a return of inspectors, but only in a broader context of ending the sanctions imposed after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Attacks and counterattacks in the no-fly zones have been going on for several years. The numbers ebb and flow, and the Pentagon says there is no particular increase now.
Iraq considers the patrols a violation of its sovereignty and frequently shoots at them with anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles. In response, coalition pilots try to bomb Iraqi air defence systems.
