Ken Bacon
Ken Bacon
afraid air defense fear largely line losing northern operation quite saddam southern top watch
We think that the Operation Southern Watch and Northern Watch have been able to debilitate Saddam Hussein's air defenses quite a lot ... For one thing, we think that he's largely afraid to use his top of the line air defense systems, for fear of losing them to our patrolling airplanes.
air attempting certainly defense hussein north seen signs watching
We're watching it very carefully. We have certainly seen signs that (Saddam Hussein is) attempting to reconstruct his air defense abilities north of the 32nd parallel.
air attempting certainly defense hussein north seen signs watching
We're watching it very carefully, ... We have certainly seen signs that (Saddam Hussein is) attempting to reconstruct his air defense abilities north of the 32nd parallel.
aircraft bring fighters number stealth total
That will bring our total of stealth fighters up to 24 in the theater, and our total number of aircraft up to about 220.
air allow campaign increase intensity kosovo
Basically, it will allow us to increase the intensity of the air campaign over Kosovo and Yugoslavia.
absolutely air answer expansion ground pure question simple step toward troops
The question you all will have is, 'Isn't this a step toward the deployment of ground troops in Kosovo?' ... The answer is, absolutely not. This is pure and simple an expansion of the air operation.
air continue defense focus military targets variety
It will be another substantive strike. It will be severe. We will continue to focus on a variety of targets, but principally on air defense targets and also on military targets in and around Kosovo.
air airmen arabia available base force moving possibly prince process taking therefore
The Air Force is in the process of taking down all its tents at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia because the airmen are moving into dormitories, and therefore these tents could possibly be available for use in Albania or Macedonia.
action air almost decision destroying plane point reaching reasonable
We would take almost any reasonable action before reaching a point of having to make a decision about destroying an American plane over American air space.
air campaign delay feels possible preparing primary reason running time washington
I think the primary reason for that (the delay) is that, right now, he (Cohen) feels that his place is here in Washington devoting as much time as possible to running the U.S. participation in the air campaign in Kosovo, preparing for the peacekeeping force.
active activity air defense extremely seen
What we have seen is extremely active activity by (Iraq's) air defense system,
aid aircraft carry combat equipment load military people planes range transport wide
There's a wide range of aircraft load masters, ... who ... aren't just combat people, but they're people who load the C-17s and other transport planes to carry humanitarian aid or military equipment into the theater.
agreement air change decided defense deputy drafts force mutual secretary subject until work
Drafts are not final, and they're subject to change until they're final. So... by mutual agreement, the secretary of the Air Force and the deputy secretary of defense decided that there was more work to do and that's being done.
active air given high interested motives moving president saddam state
Given what we have seen, the active redeployment of (Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's) air defenses, the high state of alert, we think he is interested in much more than diplomacy, that he has ulterior motives to moving these around and we need to be prepared.