An aerial photograph showing what United States military officials describe as a Military Command and Control Facility in Iraq before air strikes appears in this recent undated military handout photograph. The image was presented during a Central Command press briefing at Camp As Sayliyah, in Doha, Qatar, Friday, April 4, 2003.
An aerial photograph showing what United States military officials describe as a Military Command and Control Facility in Iraq after air strikes appears in this recent undated military handout photograph.
April 3
This aerial view was released by the Department of Defense Thursday, April 3, 2003 shows the Regime Command and Control Facility at the former Saddam International Airport in Iraq before air strikes.
This aerial view released by the Department of Defense Thursday, April 3, 2003 shows the Regime Command and Control Facility at the former Saddam International Airport in Iraq after air strikes.
April 1
Structures, in what U. S. military officials describe as an Iraqi command and control facility in the town of Tikrit, Iraq, appear before, left, and after, right, coalition bombing in this recent military combo aerial photograph, which was presented during a Central Command press briefing at Camp As Sayliyah, in Doha, Qatar, April 1, 2003.
March 28
Brigadier General Vincent Brooks, Deputy Director Of Operations, CENTCOM, showed a before-and-after image of a military barracks for a division installation near Baghdad. The specific targets are meant to affect particular parts of the structure, he explained. "Each attack like this against a military target removes one option from the regime," he said.
March 27
Brooks showed this image of an Iraqi missile support facility in Baghdad. In these types of facilities, ballistic missiles are assembled. He said that destroying it disrupts the missile production and reduces the threat to neighboring countries.
"Post-strike image," said Brooks, "shows an effective attack."
On March 27, Brooks also showed this image of a television and communications facility that, he said, "was used for dual purposes by the regime -- on one hand, to broadcast television; on another hand, to use as a node for communicating to different parts of the regime. And our intended effect in this case was to sever the links to the outside for the regime."
After the strike: "An effective attack."
March 25
During a briefing at Central Command in Doha, Qatar, March 25, Brooks presented more images. He said this photo shows a military headquarters building in northeast Baghdad. The targeted structures are in blue.
This post-strike image highlights four points of destruction.
At this water treatment plant in northwest Iraq, Brooks said, "The regime deliberately put the plant and the residents of the surrounding area at risk by constructing a building to hide short-range ballistic missiles near the plant. The blue arrow shows the location of this building. In the post-strike image, only the side is destroyed."
Some equipment is located in unusual locations, Brooks said, like this MiG-23 in a cemetery. "Inside of the yellow dotted line to the left, you see the ends of the runway and places where aircraft would normally be stored inside of bunkers."
March 24
Brooks: "This is a complex for the special security organization, well known as the enforcement arm of the regime."
"You can see where the attacks occurred with effectiveness at each of the blue arrows," Brooks said. "And only those buildings have been affected. Everything around the outside of the camp is unaffected -- even the walls of the compound were not affected."
The Iraqi intelligence service headquarters was one of the targets in Baghdad. The IIS, or Mukhabarat, planned the failed attempt to assassinate former President Bush during his visit to Kuwait in April 1993.
"Again," Brooks said, "the surrounding area is intact, and only those buildings that were targeted have been destroyed."
Brooks identified these buildings as a barracks and office complex of the Palace Guard.
"Each one of those blue arrows represents a different weapon that we delivered against the target set," Brooks said. The attack was carried out with precision-guided munitions.