Just recently Iraq has acquired SAM's (surface-to-air missiles) that have significantly increased the probability that they might actually take out a U.S. or British plane. This, apparently, is their goal--they would love to have a downed plane to exploit for propaganda, presumably of the swaggering variety. The longer reach of U.S./U.K. countermeasures that made the news is in response to the increased threat posed by Saddam's new toys.

It seems every U.S./U.K. firing action is answered with Iraqi reports of X number of civilian casualties. My belief is that there have been few, if any, such casualties and that Iraq keeps saying such things on the hope that if you lie long enough, people will start believing it.

I wish safety and health to wdyat12's friends and all civilians in the region.