Mike: Most to the incidents of Iraq firing on US and UK planes came after provocation by the US in an effort to eliminate as many radar sites as possible
Eric: "Provocation" is a silly word to use in this context, unless you are Saddam Hussein.
Plus the stepped-up attacks on Iraqi air defense sites in 2002 are not some great discovery, except for people with memory problems. It was widely announced at the time that this was occurring.*
Previously, Clinton had expanded the no-fly zones. The Wiki for "Iraqi no-fly zones" tells us that:
"Following Operation Provide Comfort, the United States continued to watch over the northern skies with the launching of Operation Northern Watch on January 1st, 1997. Operation Northern Watch continued to provide air security to the Kurdish population in the north. American and British aircraft continuously maintained the integrity of the NFZ, receiving anti-aircraft fire from Iraqi forces almost daily. The operation ran until its conclusion on May 1st, 2003."
<snip>"Following Operation Desert Fox during December 1998, Iraq announced it would no longer respect the no-fly zones and resumed its efforts in shooting down Allied aircraft. Saddam Hussein offered a $14,000 reward to anyone who could accomplish this task, but no manned aircraft were ever shot down by Iraq."
"The operation continued until it transitioned to Operation Southern Focus in June of 2002. The United States and its allies carried out military strikes against Iraqi targets after being fired on by Iraqi anti-aircraft installations. The Iraqi government in turn, claimed the NFZ were illegal. Despite illegal resupply of French and Russian surface to air missiles to Iraq, the NFZ operations had the effect of reducing Iraqi ability to counter air strikes prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
"In retaliation for the Iraqi's now-daily air defense attacks on coalition aircraft, the September attacks included a 5 September 100-aircraft attack on the main air defence site in western Iraq. According to an editorial by Michael Smith for 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."
____* see for example, Michael R. Gordon (July 21, 2003). How U.S. softened Iraq's defenses. New York Times.
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