The Quest for Relevant Air Power

30 │ POST–COLD WAR CHALLENGES
Analogous to the operations in the north, Operation Southern
Watch was mounted over southern Iraq by American, British, and
French forces from August 1992. The area south of the 32d parallel
was prohibited to Iraqi aircraft. 98 Various Iraqi violations of the
NFZ occurred. 99 In August 1996, for instance, the Iraqi Air Force
launched air strikes to intervene in the fighting between Kurdish
factions. The United States responded by launching cruise missiles
and by extending the Southern Watch NFZ up to the 33d
parallel, just south of Baghdad. 100 The French refused to back the
extension of the southern NFZ. 101
In 1997 and 1998, Iraq continued to engage in a repeated pattern
of obstructing and deceiving United Nations Special Command
(UNSCOM) weapons inspections. This situation finally
culminated in Operation Desert Fox, a limited punitive air campaign.
The Anglo-American operation entailed 650 aircraft sorties
and 415 cruise missile launches. Ninety-seven targets in Iraq
were attacked, mainly related to leadership and, to a lesser degree,
to alleged WMD facilities. 102
In late 2001 and 2002, US and British forces stepped up their
efforts and embarked upon an intensive destruction of enemy air
defences campaign. 103 From July 2002 to 19 March 2003, coalition
forces flew no fewer than 8,600 sorties to reduce the Iraqi air defence
capability and C2 networks. 104 In fact, Operations Northern
and Southern Watch turned into a preliminary campaign for an
actual invasion of Iraq.
Iraqi Freedom. After Afghanistan, the “war on terror” turned
to Iraq. Operation Iraqi Freedom commenced on 19 March 2003
with a failed decapitation strike against Saddam and his sons by
means of Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and F-117s. To
achieve surprise and to secure the Rumilyah oil fields, however,
the Anglo-American ground incursion preceded the actual air
campaign, with the former starting early in the morning and the
latter in the evening of 21 March. 105
The air war that followed was twofold. A strategic air campaign
struck against selected targets in Baghdad. An operational air war
relentlessly hammered Iraqi ground forces. 106 The vast majority of
air strikes, approximately 80 per cent, were allocated to the latter.
Close air support (CAS) decisively shaped ground engagements,
and, at an operational level, aerial firepower spearheaded ground