I can't be the only one who's noticed this fiasco. I'm talking about the U.S. Air Force farting bombs all over northern and southern Iraq ... and, oh yeah, British fighter planes--we can't forget them--tagging along like puppy dogs.

Back on Dec. 16, you'll remember, on the same day Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives, he gave the order to bomb the shit out of Iraq--only four days before the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Air Force lobbed 90 Cruise missiles ($1 million each) at Iraq, thereby exhausting 40% of its inventory. Not to be upstaged, the Navy fired at least 300 Tomahawk missiles (also $1 million apiece) and succeeded in killing Iraq's leading female poet, but not Saddam Hussein. The total cost to us of the four-day war, precipitated by Iraq's refusal to allow CIA agents (posing as UNSCOM inspectors) to enter the Ba'ath Party headquarters in Baghdad, will be around $1 billion. That's just for the four day bombing spree in December, and not for the current, escalating situation.

A look back at the last two months reveals a terrible pattern. In late December and early January, U.S. pilots were instructed to fire only when fired upon. By mid-January, U.S. planes were firing on any radar site or plane that "targeted" a U.S. plane. On Jan. 25, a precision-guided bomb "went astray" and fell on a suburb of Basra, killing 17 women and children and injuring over 40 more. Yet on Jan. 29, Clinton gave the okay for Air Force pilots to target any military site in the two no-fly zones, regardless of whether a clear provocation exists. Since then, daily bombing runs have become the norm. On Feb. 25, U.S. jets attacked a missile site just 30 miles outside of Baghdad, possibly crossing the boundary of the southern no-fly zone in the process. On Sunday, Feb. 28, U.S. planes bombed several communications sites in northern Iraq and damaged a control center for the oil pipeline that delivers oil under the U.N.'s Oil For Food Program. Disabling the pipeline cuts off the only major source of imported food and medicines for the Iraqi people--the ultimate targets in this war.

The no-fly zones are not sanctioned by the U.N., but were created unilaterally by the U.S., Great Britain, and France in 1991 under the pretext of protecting the Kurds in the north of Iraq and the Shiites in the south. But in 1996, France pulled out of the coalition, citing its belief that the U.S. ultimately has no humanitarian intentions in enforcing the no-fly zones. Recently, our staunch ally, Turkey--which is allowing us to use its runways and air bases--has also criticized the daily bombing runs. Even the New York Times admits that the no-fly zones are a sham: "In fact, no U.N. resolution created the restricted zones." (NYT 2/25/99) Further, the U.S. Air Force has a clear policy of not allowing its pilots to come under significant danger of attack in the no-fly zones: whenever a plane is targeted by radar, U.S. fighter jets immediately and thoroughly destroy the suspected radar site--and numerous other targets--in a retaliation that's completely out of proportion to the "crime."

Not only should we end the economic sanctions against Iraq, but also this farce that's called "enforcement of the no-fly zones." It's unilateral warfare, pure and simple.

Maria Tomchick