The day the American bombers bombed Iraq with 27,000 tons of bombs What is the story of Operation Secret Squirrel?

Seven giant B-52 bombers were launched towards Iraq from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, and traveled 22,530,816 km during Operation Secret Squirrel, which lasted nearly 35 hours without stopping.

Operation The Secret Squirrels marks the beginning of the war of the international coalition led by the United States against Iraq to expel it from Kuwait in the second Gulf War or what is known as Desert Storm in January 1991, and witnessed the participation of B-52 bombers. In the largest air campaign since the Vietnam War, the aim of which, according to US military data, was to carry out successive air strikes that would destroy the capabilities of the Iraqi army.

The operation began at the dawn of January 16, 1991, with intense missile strikes targeting communications and electrical power systems in Iraq and ended the next day. These operations remained secret until the end of 1992, when they were revealed after crew members were awarded medals and medals for their role in this war.

Surprise blow

Colonel Abdul-Jabbar Hamid Al-Abbo told AJ Net that 7 B-52 bombers left the "Barksdale" base in the state of Louisiana in the south of the United States to carry out the mission, and indicated that the importance of this process lies in the use of a new weapon used for the first time, which is cruise missiles that were attached to aircraft. "B-52" for being launched from long distances, safe for aircraft, unaffected by air defenses, and precisely because of its satellite-guided weapons.

This retired officer continues that this operation had a significant impact on the Iraqi army sectors because it targeted command and control sites and military headquarters such as the Ministry of Defense or the Republican Palace and the headquarters of the Republican Guard, and targeted communications exchanges in order to paralyze communications between the Iraqi forces and the leadership, in addition to targeting an exchange in Basra. The south of the country and the thermal power plant in Mosul (north).

It shows that the operation did not target the Iraqi forces directly, but rather targeted the sites of electric power stations and main switches, in addition to the command and control headquarters, such as the headquarters of the General Command of the Armed Forces in the Republican Palace and other areas such as airports and headquarters at Al-Rasheed Base, Al-Muthanna Base and near Baghdad Airport.

The retired colonel confirms that the operation did not surprise the Iraqi army as completely as the strikes that took place in other wars, such as the Israeli strike against the Egyptian or Syrian airports, because Iraq was expecting the strike to happen.

However, the surprise was the use of a new weapon that Iraq was not familiar with, namely cruise missiles that fly at low altitudes and also use satellites to identify targets.

Reason of calling

As for the reason for naming this operation, Al-Abo says that every military operation has a symbolic name in order to make this operation a kind of secrecy. The United States used this name in relation to a cartoon character that spread in the sixties of the twentieth century and bears the name “Secret Squirrel.”

Colonel Al-Roken expresses his belief that naming it by this name came to give it a kind of secrecy so that he does not understand the meaning of the operation.

He adds that this bombing flight is one of the longest war flights, as it lasted about 35 hours, as it took off from the southern United States and passed over the Atlantic Ocean and the Strait of Gibraltar, and over the Mediterranean there was refueling by American planes that took off from an American air base in Spain. Then it continued on its way to the Red Sea and then to Saudi lands, and over Saudi lands it launched its missiles.

Al-Abou talks about the disadvantages of cruise missiles represented by their relatively slow speed, as Iraq was able to confront them and shoot down a number of them using air defense fire, especially heavy machine guns.

Complex process

In turn, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Political History, Dr. Adel Muhammad Al-Olayan, says: With the end of the deadline granted by former US President George W. Bush to the late President Saddam Hussein to withdraw forces from Kuwait, the "secret squirrel" was launched on January 16, 1991.

He adds to AJ Net that 7 giant B-52 bombers were launched towards Iraq from Barksdale Air Base in the US state of Louisiana, and traveled 14,000 miles (22,530,816 km) during a non-stop operation that lasted nearly 35 hours, with the aim of launching guided missiles with the system. GPS "with a warhead weighing more than 450 kg on strategic Iraqi targets, and the operation remained undeclared for more than a year.

Al-Olayan points out that during this operation, American bombers dropped about 27 thousand tons of bombs and explosives on Iraq, and the use of these planes was considered the first starting line in defeating the Iraqi army and accelerating the process of its withdrawal from Kuwait.

A retired US Army officer who participated in the operation is quoted as saying that "it was the longest flight according to its time and digital limitations, and the fact that it set the standard in directing long-range air strikes, as well as how difficult it is to carry out such tasks physiologically and prepare the human body to fly by about 30-40 hours continuously.

Strategic error

For his part, the retired Iraqi officer and military historian, Subhi Nazim Tawfiq, describes that air strike as the opening of the second Gulf War, known as Desert Storm, with the end of the warning period granted by Washington to Baghdad as the leader of the international coalition that was formed against Iraq.

Tawfiq indicates - in his speech to AJ Net - that the international coalition gave Iraq 45 days an opportunity to withdraw its ground forces from Kuwait, but President Saddam did not respond to the request, "and this is a strategic mistake that led to the destruction of Iraq, and no list has been established for him since that day."

He believes that the destruction and devastation of Iraq today is an extension of that process that targeted strategic sites and civilian infrastructure, which had a strong impact on the war effort, because the electricity and communications systems are the basis of every country, and state affairs cannot be run without them.

He points out that the US administration at the time wanted Operation "Secret Squirrel" to confirm that it had planes capable of taking off from its bases from within its territory and reaching any part of the world, relying on the American's own capabilities without relying on anyone.

It also aimed to demonstrate its capabilities in destroying the civil infrastructure of countries related to the war effort, on which countries depend in order to deprive them of the foundations of their daily, leadership and economic lives, according to Tawfiq.

Results

Al-Olayan mentions that 70 pilots of the crews of these B-52 fighters participated in the "Secret Squirrel", and about 1,741 missions were carried out, and the United States was able to achieve its main goals, which were the destruction of Iraq's strategic and infrastructure, paralyzing its economic capabilities and harming society by reflecting that. Destruction on the daily life of the Iraqi citizen.

He notes that this operation led to the destruction of the power stations in Mosul, which are one of the giant and vital stations for the country, as well as the communication exchanges in Basra and a number of other vital stations, including food industry factories and others.

Al-Olayan quotes some sources close to the White House, including writer and journalist Pierre Salinger, author of the book "The Gulf War The Secret File", as saying that "these secret operations had also targeted the head of the political system in Iraq, and a number of government headquarters in Baghdad, As the appropriate opportunity for its secrecy on the one hand, and for the intensity of the firepower directed through it, despite the fact that the goal of overthrowing the regime was not approved by President Bush.”