In the summer of 2002, just weeks after Tony Blair and his cabinet met to discuss how they would balance increasing pressure from Washington to go to war with the demands of international law, a joint US, British and Turkish strike force crossed the border into Iraq in the opening salvo of what would become Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Although the US had stepped up it’s air attack on Iraq in June with the start of Operation Southern Focus in an attempt to soften Saddam’s defenses prior to invasion, the war up to this point had been mostly a covert one with no real ground activity to speak of. That would all change on August 8, 2002 when a joint task force of US, British and Turkish forces would cross the border into Iraq and engage the enemy for the first time.
US-UK-TURK JOINT OPERATION PUT "BOOTS ON THE GROUND" AUG. 8, 2002After months of preparation that had begun in March of 2002 with the insertion of US special forces into the Kurdish regions in northern Iraq, and continued in April with the arrival of Turkish special forces troops entering the Turkman regions around the big oil towns of Mosul and Kirkuk, the stage was set for what would be the opening salvo in the war in Iraq.
The attack began on August 6, at 8:00 AM, when US and British bombers destroyed the Iraqi air command and control center at al-Nukhaib located about 260 miles southwest of Baghdad. The center had recently installed a new advanced fiber optic network.
To test the effectiveness of the raid, US warplanes from the Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia and from US aircraft carriers in the Gulf were then dispatched to fly over the Iraqi capital. "This deep air penetration told the Americans that the early warning radar system protecting Baghdad and its environs from intrusion by enemy aircraft and missiles was inactive"
On Wednesday August 8, at 5:00 PM local time the combined air and ground assault was ready to begin.
...on Wednesday night, August 8, Turkey executed its first major military assault inside Iraq. (Israeli) military sources learn from Turkish and Kurdish informants that helicopters under
US, British and Turkish warplane escort flew Turkish commandos to an operation for seizing the critical Bamerni airport in northern Iraq.
This airport, just outside the Kurdish region, lies 50 miles north of the big Iraqi oil cities of the north, Kirkuk and Mosul. With the Turkish commandos was a group of US Special Forces officers and men. Bamerni airport was captured after a brief battle in which a unit of Iraqi armored defenders was destroyed, opening the airport for giant American and Turkish transports to deliver engineering units, heavy machinery and electronic support equipment, which were put to work at once on enlarging the field and widening its landing strips.
The American unit, reinforced, went on to capture two small Iraqi military airfields nearby.
-snip-
...military experts explain that with Bamerni airport and the two additional airfields the Americans have acquired full control of the skies over the two oil cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, as well as over the Syrian-Iraqi railroad, which they can now cut off by aerial bombardment.
-snip-
The battle over this airfield was in fact the first important face-to-face engagement between a US-led invasion force and Iraqi troops. It was carried out seven hours before the Iraqi ruler delivered his televised speech to the nation, on the 14th anniversary of the bloody eight-year Iraq-Iran war.
From Debka Net Weekly 8/10/02 (Israel)
08 August 2002: According to the
Turkish daily Hurriyet, Turkish troops have taken control of the strategically important Bamerni Airport in south Kurdistan, as a preparation for a future attack on Iraq and to prevent the creation of a Kurdish State.
Apparently, Turkey took control of the airport as a preparation in case of a chaos during attacks against Iraq and the possiblity of a Kurdish State. The Bamerni Airport is from the Saddam era.
Hurriyet reported that Turkey has also sent civil and military personnel to the airport for maintenance and technical support. Several logistics-electronic machinery has also been sent to further improve the condition of the airport.
From KurdishMedia.com
On August 9, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that 5,000 Turkish troops had entered northern Iraq and taken over the Bamerni air base north of Mosul.
-snip-
But in part the actions go well beyond that.
In Kurdish Iraq - according to Israeli sources - US army engineers are working around the clock to build a series of six to eight airstrips to serve fighter planes and helicopters that will provide air cover for invading ground forces. The airfields are strung along a western axis from the city of Zako southwest to the city of Sinjar; a central axis from Zako south to Arbil; and an eastern axis from Arbil to Sulimaniyeh.
From Asian Times 8/17/2002
Two interesting stories recently appeared in the Turkish press about northern Iraq:
First, according to the dailies, Bamerni Airport near Dhohuk, across the border from Sirnak, is now completely under the control of Turkish troops. This development has been evaluated as a sign of imminent US intervention against Saddam Hussein since Turkey has brought the flurry of activity in the region under stricter control. However, as yet we don't have enough information about the actual story.
Soon after Ankara's official denial that Turkey had deployed troops at the airport, we received information about struggles in the region.
From Milliyet (Turkey) via Turkish Press Review
On August 9,2002 future Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, then head of the Patriot Union of Kurdistan (PUK), spoke with CNN-TURK. He confirmed that the airport was in fact under Turkish control, but with an odd twist.
A prominent Iraqi Kurdish leader said in a broadcast Friday that the Turkish army had controlled an airport in the Kurdish-held north of neighbouring Iraq for several years, but the general staff in Ankara promptly denied the claim.
-snip-
"But it has been under the control of Turkish forces for a long time, since 1995 or 1996," said Talabani, who left Turkey on Thursday for a meeting of the Iraqi opposition in Washington.
-snip-
The Turkish army however denied it had control over the airport, a claim widely reported in the Turkish press for the past few days. These reports are incorrect and do not reflect the truth," said an army statement, adding that the airport had been extensively damaged during the Gulf War and rendered inoperational.
From Kurdish Observer 8-902
By August 20, 2002 the news finally made it into the British press. The Sunday Express reported:
...around 5pm on Wednesday, August 8 the Iraqi early warning systems were tested yet again as a fleet of troop-carrying helicopters from the Turkish Army swept over the Turkish border and into the strategic Bamarni military airbase which lies 50 miles north of the oil-rich Al Mawsil city.
The military invasion involved 5,000 Turkish Commandos backed by American Special Forces. Eye-witnesses on the ground claimed air support and/or protection in the northern no-fly zone was provided by Turkish, American and British aircraft. Claims of a British air involvement in this particular action drew a strong denial by the MoD.
After a brief skirmish with ill-equipped Iraqi troops from an armoured section of Saddam's war machine, Bamarni airbase fell into the control of Allied troops and several C130 transporter planes were guided on to the airstrips from bases in Turkey.
Heavy earth-moving machinery and electronic support equipment were unloaded over several days and as rumours of an invasion began to circulate, Turkish television issued strong denials and broadcast old pictures of the air base showing it abandoned and derelict. As Turkish troops reinforced security around the airport which lies just outside of the Kurdish district,
American Special Forces and a crack unit of Turkish commandos seized two other strategic military points on either side of the airbase in the Dahuk province of Iraq.
The two bases which incorporated very basic army barracks were on two hills, one 565 ft above sea level and the other 2160 ft and now provide US and Turkish soldiers with strategic look out posts over the immediate area. Americans are now confident they have air superiority over the entire region which includes the two famous industrial cities of Al Mawsil and Kirkuk.
This also includes the strategic railroad linking Syria and Iraq which has long been suspected as a key smuggling route for receiving arms and sending out illegal oil exports.
The invasion, which resulted in the first hand-to-hand combat between coalition and Iraqi troops, took place as Saddam Hussein warned America against invading his country.
From
The Sunday Express 8/20/2002 via
Global Intel.net
Summary at
The Edge.Org
Although this story was covered extensively in the world press it received little attention from the US media. Clearly the evidence is incontrovertible that although it would be more than two months before Congress authorized the use of force in Iraq, the military had already gone forward with the Administration's plans for war.
Faqs on IraqFact:
This is the first in a series of articles examining the military and political events that occurred prior to the official start of the Iraq War on March 19,2003. Most of the data will cover the period prior to both UN 1441 and HJ Res. 114, which the Administration claims gave them legal justification for the war.
While excellent work has been done by many here to uncover the truth about the lead up to war, most have focused on the diplomatic aspects of the story, working to uncover various documents and statements that would prove that the war was not only planned in advance, but intentionally sold with "cooked" intelligence.
We, in this working group will be attacking the issue from a different angle. Not unlike Deep Throat's advice to "follow the money", we will be working to "follow the military" hoping to shed new light on the issue. We believe that by examining troop, command, aircraft and naval activities during the period, a clear picture will emerge to prove the military was in fact engaged in an actual war long before March of 2003.
The IraqFact working group consists of DUKE1676 and NYDEM25. This is the first article in a continuing series that will cover a timeline roughly from Jan. 2002 thru March of 2003. Topics to be covered will be:
Troop and equipment movements into the Iraq theater prior to authorization
Movement of equipment by commercial rather than military means.
Operation Southern Focus and the softening up of the theater of operations
Supply and support to Kurdish elements prior to authorization
Movement of command and control into the Iraq theater
Diplomacy used to clear the path for attack
Reports of US activity from the Arab Street
Although some of these topics and stories have been covered here before, we are hoping to end up with a military timeline that could be lined up with the diplomatic ones being worked on by others. Hopefully the two will compliment each other to fill in the gaps in the story. If we can see what military moves were made following key events like the 4/02 Crawford Meeting, a clearer picture might develop. The timeline will also be useful for comparing public statements made by government officials with actual events on the ground. Most articles will cover a topic for the entire time period, a few (such as this one) will focus on a single event.
Anyone with additional information on the topic covered please post in comments or E-mail. This diary will be continually updated in order to use it (and the entire series) as a reference. If you have any special skills or knowledge that you think might be helpful, please feel free to contact us. (Linguists, vets, families and friends of those stationed abroad at the time, if you traveled in the area during the period, Etc.)
Other stories by IRAQFACT:
Al-Udeid: Proof Iraq War planned prior 9-11
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