Operation Desert Strike

1
Operation Desert Strike

• September 3, 1996

2
When

• In September 1996 during the Kurdish Civil War.
  It involved a joint United States Navy-United
  States Air Force strike against air defense
  targets in southern Iraq

3
What

• Despite warnings from the United States, Iraq
  moved 40,000 troops into northern Iraq, which
  threatened the Kurdish population. 
• So the president ordered a strike on military
  targets posing a threat to coalition aircraft in
  the no-fly-zone.
• On September 3 1996, a coordinated cruise missile
  attack was launched against the Iraqi air defense
  infrastructure, including surface-to-air missile
  sites and command and control nodes in southern
  Iraq.

4
Where

• The attacks were primarily aimed at retaliation
  for the targeting of USAF fighters in the
  Northern and Southern no-fly zones, and were
  targeted at surface to air missile sites and
  command, control, and communication locations,
  with the intention of degrading the Iraqi air
  defense infrastructure.

5
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6
What

• On August 31, 1996, elements of the Iraqi Army
  attacked and captured the PUK-held town of Irbil
  in the Kurdish autonomous region of northern
  Iraq. 
• The August attack was a significant escalation of
  an ongoing struggle between PUK and KDP Kurdish
  factions for control of the autonomous region. 

7
What

• The Kurds' plight led to United Nations
  resolutions and intensive international calls for
  humanitarian assistance. The United Nations
  established distribution centers to provide food,
  medicine, and humanitarian supplies, even as the
  Iraqi regime continued to oppress and
  disenfranchise its northern citizens

8
Aftermath

• It is debatable whether the attacks did or did
  not have a substantial effect on Iraq's northern
  campaign.
• The PUK and its leader, Jalal Talabani, retreated
  to the Iranian border, and American forces
  evacuated 700 Iraqi National Congress personnel
  and 6,000 pro-Western Kurds out of northern Iraq.

9
Questions

• What was the date of the attack?
• Who was being invaded?
• How many troops were deployed?
• Where was the missile sent?