The aerial attack conducted by the U.S.and British
military aircrafts against Baghdad on February 16 was seemingly a beginning
of an largescale
military offensive. But certainly it was not. Qin's
article tries to analyse the real purpose of this reasonless action. The article says that the February 16 bombardment over Iraqi military facilities was not simply a “routine mission” as described by President Bush. First, the action was a showcase to prove that Bush didn't forget his promise during the electoral campaign that he would push a hard policy toward Iraq, and at the same time to prove that the new President was not a layman in foreign affairs. Second, this time the British expressed an extraordinary willing to do the job because they felt discriminated by their American friends and wanted to demonstrate once more the “glory of British Eurpire.”Third, some sources said that this was a peripheral warfare the purpose of which was to warn Arab states not to show any difference with the U.S.led peace process in the Middle East. The article observes that the U.S. “double containment” policy toward Iran and Iraq is now in a dilemma with Iraq's Saddam gaining more and more support from international community and making his country hard enough to bear protracted sanction and military pressures, and with Iran ignoring either all kinds of threats or any ingratiating manners from the United States. And it would be also futile for the U.S. government to “condemn” Chinese companies helping Iraqis in building and improving Baghdad's antiair defense system.