Word: iraqis
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
While the U.S. thinks the war is over, somebody apparently forgot to tell the Iraqis. A day after firing on U.S. planes patrolling the country's northern no-fly zone, Iraqi vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan said his country is challenging the U.S. presence by conducting flights in the restricted area. Trying to take the "no" out of "no-fly zone" is Iraq's latest way of tweaking the U.S., following Sunday's announcement (and then retraction) that Iraq would expel U.N. oil-for-food inspectors. And the Iraqi government continues to put on an aggressive front, saying it shot...
...That's news to the Pentagon, which says that while its planes are patrolling the southern no-fly zone as usual, fighters that would normally be overseeing the northern zone have been grounded -- by bad weather. Thunderstorms over northern Iraq, not Iraqi fighters, have kept the U.S. planes down, according to the Defense Department, and it's not even clear whether Iraqi fighters are up there at all. The bad news for Saddam: Wednesday's forecast calls for bright sunshine...
...four nights now they have had something horrific to fear. But the lights still blazed in the city each night in typical Iraqi bravado. Shops show off wares that only black marketeers can afford to buy, and in the night-vision goggles of American pilots, they signal Iraq's defiance. Streetlamps cast a reassuring sulfur glow, though only a modest number of cars race the highway behind al-Rasheed Hotel downtown. It is not that Iraqis are afraid or battened down in their bomb shelters. There is little to keep them out after dark, even on a peaceful night before...
...mini-war may be over, but the bullets, both verbal and literal, keep flying in Iraq. The live rounds Monday came in Iraq's northern no-fly zone as U.S. planes hit an Iraqi air defense battery after being fired upon. Iraq's government said four soldiers were killed after U.S. bombs made at least two direct hits on the emplacement near the city of Mosul. Meanwhile, Iraq was shifting its position on the U.N.'s oil-for-food program. One day after causing a minor stir by threatening to expell some 400 workers who monitor the program, Iraq...
...Saleh's (and presumably Saddam Hussein's) objection comes out of a fear that oil for food means sanctions will continue indefinitely, since it allows the West to make the dubious argument that sanctions actually benefit the Iraqi people by ensuring that they get at least some food. So while Saleh is backing down for now, expect this to be revisited again in the coming months before the program comes up for renewal...