U. S. Doubles Rate of Bombing in Iraq

June 10, 2007

On June 5, the Associated Press reported that U.S. warplanes have drastically increased the number of attacks in Iraq, dropping bombs at more than twice the rate of one year ago.

In the first 4 1/2 months of 2007, for example, U.S. warplanes dropped 237 bombs and missiles in support of ground forces in Iraq, already surpassing the 229 expended in all of 2006, according to U.S. Air Force figures obtained by AP.

"Air operations over Iraq have ratcheted up significantly, in the number of sorties, the number of hours (in the air)," said Col. Joe Guastella, Air Force operations chief for the region.

The Air Force official also commented that the rise in bombing attacks is due to the increased availability of planes from U.S. aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf. A second U.S. Navy aircraft carrier on station since February in the Persian Gulf has added some 80 warplanes to the U.S. air arsenal in the region.

The number of Air Force and Navy "close air support" missions, also has grown by some 30 to 40 percent this spring, said Army Lt. Col. Bryan Cox, a ground-forces liaison at the regional air headquarters.

Another official stated that the increase "appears to be accompanied by a rise in Iraqi civilian casualties." According to Iraq Body Count, a London-based, anti-war research group that maintains a database compiling news media reports on Iraqi war deaths, the rate of civilian deaths appeared to climb steadily through 2006, the group reports, averaging just a few a month in early 2006, hitting some 40 a month by year's end, and averaging more than 50 a month so far this year.