Iraq's air force remains grounded

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.iraqair25jun25,0,2519508.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

BAGHDAD // Iraqi pilots bitterly recall one of the commands that came down from Saddam Hussein as the dictator prepared for the U.S.-led invasion three years ago: Bury fighter jets in the sand.
Today, the men who flew those jets are in effect still grounded, even though they make up the bulk of the new Iraqi air force.

The U.S. military has hurriedly tried to turn over square mile after square mile of territory to Iraqi soldiers and police officers, but it has yet to yield control of a single cubic inch of the country's skies.

Despite U.S. pledges to help, the fledgling Iraqi air force remains tiny and ineffective - consisting of three Vietnam-era cargo planes, a few secondhand helicopters, some problem-ridden experimental aircraft and just 14 pilots, decades older than their American counterparts and under threat from Sunni Muslim insurgents and Shiite militias alike.

U.S. military officials say that addressing the question of when they will allow the Iraqi air force to acquire combat capabilities is years away.

[KharmaTrain]

1. Whatever Happened To The Planes That Flew To Iran in 1991?

Also weren't most of Saddam's planes Soviet MIGs? I would imagine that parts would have been hard to come by after 1991. But then why let some facts get in the way of a good spin.

Also, with the two no-fly zones...one that extended into suburban Baghdad, what type of Air Force could Saddam have had that if anytime they tried to fly a plane or even turn on a radar they risked getting a sidewinder missile up their backsides?

Lastly, what's the need for an Iraqi Air Force...especially in a country that doesn't truly exist as a sovereign entity. Whomever gets that portfolio will use it for his clan/power base. Since most are Shiites, we can't see a threat being posed by Iran. Other than training pilots to turn against their own people...just like Saddam did...what's the real need?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. We got a lot of surgents to blow away.... what better way than to

let them have it with Iraq's own Apache's and so forth.... only the faces have changed... names and numbers are insignificant. It really couldn't be any worse than this sort of behavior on our behalf.


http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2000/05/15/hersh/index.html
The report also charges that McCaffrey, who is now a member of President Clinton's cabinet and director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, maneuvered his troops miles beyond what was sanctioned by his commanders and failed to inform superiors of the exact location of his troops. As the attack commenced, a helicopter blew up an enemy ammunition truck, blocking access to a bridge and bottling up the doomed Iraqis.

Hersh writes that "Apache attack helicopters, Bradley fighting vehicles, and artillery units from the 24th Division pummeled the 5-mile-long Iraqi column for hours, destroying some 700 Iraqi tanks, armored cars and trucks, and killing not only Iraqi soldiers but civilians and children as well. Many of the dead were buried soon after the engagement, and no accurate count of the victims could be made."