The US Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, has warned that US and British pilots patrolling no-fly zones over Iraq face increasing danger from attempts by President Saddam Hussein's forces to shoot down their first allied warplane since the 1991 Gulf War.
"We are concerned that the Iraqis might be using some new tactics or modifications. We are looking into it," said one Pentagon official. "I remind you that we reserve the right to respond to such attempts at the place and time of our choosing."
President Bush branded President Saddam "still a menace" on Thursday after an attempt by Baghdad's military to shoot down a US U2 spy aircraft.
"We're going to keep the pressure on Iraq," Mr Bush said when asked about Tuesday's attempt to hit the aircraft using a Russian-made anti-aircraft missile in a no-fly zone over southern Iraq. "The no-fly zone is still in place. Plus, I'm analysing the data from the incident you talked about," Mr Bush said.
Senior US defence officials said that the missile just missed the unarmed, single-seat U2 aircraft. One said the pilot felt a shock wave, and the close call was a surprise because the missile, believed to be a SAM-2 modified with extra fuel, was apparently fired without the use of targeting radar.
Admiral Craig Quigley, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed at a Defence Department briefing that the aircraft had been fired at, but refused to discuss details other than to say other U2s had previously been shot at this year.
"It continues the pattern of Iraqi aggressiveness in shooting at coalition aircraft," Admiral Quigley said.
Iraq has this month defused more than 620 unexploded bombs dropped on the west of the country by US and British aircrafts during the Gulf War, the INA news agency reported yesterday.
The Civil Defence Department, quoted by INA, said most of the 623 bombs defused in Anbar province since July 1st were cluster bombs. US and British warplanes have fired 65,500 bombs or missiles at Iraq since the war, the spokesman said.