>В том-то и дело, что разбомбили просто потому, что сочли что эти некие объекты представляют угрозу самолетам, то есть из-за замозащиты "разбомбили" да еще и назвали это обычным делом.
"Targets 'threaten our forces'
An administration official told CNN that the White House views the attacks as consistent with U.S. policy established at the end of the Persian Gulf war.
"The targets were struck pursuant to existing policy in place since 1991," the official said. "The policy allows the U.S. to take out assets that threaten our forces. The president was aware of and approved the action. We have hit targets that constituted a threat to our forces, but this does not represent an escalation in our activity against Iraq or a change in policy."
The operation was prompted by an "increased threat to our aircraft and our crew," Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold said at a Pentagon news conference.
A spokesman for the British Minitry of defense told CNN that Iraq has launched more attacks aginst allied planes patrolling the no-fly zone in the month of January of 2001 than it did in the whole of the year 2000.
It marks the first time since Operation Desert Fox in 1998 that the allies have struck targets outside the no-fly zone, in this case north of the 33rd parallel. The no-fly zones are bands running across Iraq that are bordered by the 33rd parallel in the south and 36th parallel in the north.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld issued a written statement on the attacks on Iraq. "The objective of today's mission by coalition forces was to degrade Iraqi air defense capabilities and thus reduce the threat posed to coalition aircraft and aircrews," The statement said.
"The specifics of the mission were planned by the military commander in the field, and were presented to and approved by the national command authorities. The administration intends to enforce the no-fly zones in Iraq and will take appropriate steps to reduce the threats to coalition forces engaged in this mission," Rumsfeld's statement said."
Официально - немножко вынесли ПВО Ирака. Неофициально - кто знает? В январе что-то пробегало насчет пары ядреных бомб у Хуссейна...