Cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan (August 1998)

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Operation Infinite Reach
Part of the Post-Cold War era
Operation Infinite Reach .jpg
Pharmaceutical factory in Shifa, Sudan destroyed during Operation Infinite Reach
Date August 20, 1998
Location Afghanistan, Sudan
Result Disputed
Belligerents
 United States Flag of Jihad.svg Al-Qaeda
Harakat flag.png Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
Flag of Sudan.svg National Islamic Front
Commanders
Anthony Zinni Flag of Jihad.svg Osama Bin Laden
Strength
Around 10 warships and 5 submarines Unknown
Casualties and losses
None Flag of Jihad.svg Harakat flag.png 34 killed
Flag of Sudan.svg 1 killed
Alleged "tens of thousands" of indirect deaths in Sudan

The August 1998 bombings of Afghanistan and Sudan (codenamed Operation Infinite Reach by the United States) were American cruise missile strikes on terrorist bases in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan on August 20, 1998. The attack was in retaliation for the bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed 224 people (including 12 Americans) and injured 5,000 others.

Contents

[edit] Al-Shifa plant bombing and controversy

Main article: Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory

The missiles were launched from US warships in the Red Sea. Several hit the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory, which the United States claimed was helping Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the embassy attacks, build chemical weapons. One man was killed and ten were wounded in Sudan by the strike.

Then United States National Security Council advisor Richard Clarke stated that intelligence existed linking Osama bin Laden to Al-Shifa's current and past operators, namely the Iraqi nerve gas experts and the National Islamic Front in Sudan.[1] The government of Sudan demanded an apology from both the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations; but none has been given, since U.S. intelligence still believes the plant had ties to chemical weapons. According to testimony by William Cohen, "...the U.S. intelligence community obtained physical evidence from outside the al-Shifa facility in Sudan that supported long-standing concerns regarding its potential role in Sudanese chemical weapon efforts that could be exploited by al Qaeda."[2]

Officials later acknowledged, however, that "the evidence that prompted President Clinton to order the missile strike on the Shifa plant was not as solid as first portrayed." Indeed, officials later said that there was no proof that the plant had been manufacturing or storing nerve gas, as initially suspected by the Americans, or had been linked to Osama bin Laden, who was a resident of Khartoum in the 1990s."[3]

Unfortunately the factory was Sudan's primary source of pharmaceuticals, covering the majority of the Sudanese market. Werner Daum (Germany's ambassador to Sudan 1996–2000) wrote an article in which he estimated that the attack "probably led to tens of thousands of deaths" of Sudanese civilians.[4] The U.S. Bureau of Intelligence and Research wrote a report in 1999 questioning the attack on the factory, suggesting that the connection to bin Laden was not accurate; James Risen reported in the New York Times:

"Now, the analysts renewed their doubts and told Assistant Secretary of State Phyllis Oakley that the C.I.A.'s evidence on which the attack was based was inadequate. Ms. Oakley asked them to double-check; perhaps there was some intelligence they had not yet seen. The answer came back quickly: There was no additional evidence. Ms. Oakley called a meeting of key aides and a consensus emerged: Contrary to what the Administration was saying, the case tying Al Shifa to Mr. bin Laden or to chemical weapons was weak."[5]

The Chairman of El Shifa Pharmaceutical Industries, who is critical of the Sudanese government, more recently told reporters, "I had inventories of every chemical and records of every employee's history. There were no such [nerve gas] chemicals being made here."[6] Sudan has since invited the U.S. to conduct chemical tests at the site for evidence to support its claim that the plant might have been a chemical weapons factory; so far, the U.S. has refused the invitation to investigate. Nevertheless, the U.S. has refused to officially apologize for the attacks, suggesting that some still suspect that chemical weapons activity existed there.[3]

[edit] Attack on camps in Afghanistan

Satellite image showing an al-Qaeda training camp in Zhawar Kili

About 75 cruise missiles were fired by the US into the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan at four militant training camps around Khost and Jalalabad: three camps in the Jarawah area near Khost, one of which, El Farouq, trained primarily Afghan Arabs, and Al Badr camp 10 miles to the west which also trained Afghan Arabs and was directed by bin Laden.[7] The Khost camp, Zawhar Kili, was a summit meeting place for senior Arab leaders of Islamic militant organizations labeled as terrorist groups by NATO and linked to bin Laden. [8] The attack was made partly in an attempt to assassinate him and other leaders. [9] After the attack, the CIA heard that bin Laden had been at Zawhar Kili but had left some hours before the missiles hit.[10] As to the precise length of time between when bin Laden is thought to left the camp, and when the missile impacts occurred, there is some difference of opinion depending on information sources.

According to Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, the Al Badr camp controlled by bin Laden and Muawai camps run by the Pakistani Harkat-ul-Mujahideen[11] were the main targets. However, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen was training to fight Indian troops in Kashmir, not Americans.[12] According to Rashid, 20 Afghans, seven Pakistanis, three Yemenis, two Egyptians, one Saudi and one Turk were killed.

U.S. President Bill Clinton announced the attacks in a TV address, saying the Khost camp was "one of the most active terrorist bases in the world,"[13] adding that "I want the world to understand that our actions today were not aimed against Islam" which he called "a great religion."[14]

Some, however, including bin Laden, saw this as a way of attracting attention away from the Lewinsky scandal. On August 17, three days prior to the missile strike, President Clinton admitted in a nationally televised presidential address[15] that he had an inappropriate relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. This address followed President Clinton's grand jury testimony earlier that day. An additional motive for the strikes could have been to communicate some form of indirect warning to India and Pakistan, in hopes of discouraging those two countries from their new nuclear testing policies, opposed by many Western countries.

According to the Washington Times, a new book by Times reporter John Diamond states that the arrest of Mohammed Sadeeq Odeh, one of the Kenyan embassy bombers, ruined the effectiveness of the US missile strikes in Afghanistan. According to Diamond, Odeh was arrested in Karachi, Pakistan on August 7, 1998 after being discovered with a false passport while traveling to meet with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Bomb residue was then discovered on Odeh's luggage and US authorities were notified. Alerted to the arrest, bin Laden canceled the meeting which meant that the camps targeted by the cruise missiles were mainly empty the day of the US strike. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation had taken custody of Odeh a week after his arrest, but unaware of the planned US military strike, was unable to give a warning that bin Laden and his troops had probably changed their locations and movement plans.[16]

[edit] Reaction

  • Flag of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.svg Chechen Vice-President Vakha Arsanov said that by attacking Afghanistan and Sudan the United States had launched an "undeclared World War III", threatened to attack the Americans anywhere in the world, and that Clinton had been put on the "wanted list" for his crimes against the Islamic people and would be tried according to Sharia laws.[21]
  • Flag of Iraq, 1991-2004.svg Iraq said it was "ready to cooperate with any Arab and international countries to confront the U.S. hostile policies."[17]
  • Flag of Taliban.svg In Afghanistan the Taliban denounced the bombing as actually aimed at the Afghan people. The movement denied charges it provides a safe haven for bin Laden and insisted that the U.S. attack killed only innocent civilians.[17]
  • Flag of Jihad.svg Osama bin Laden pledged to attack the U.S. again.[citation needed] Ayman al-Zawahiri made a phone call to a Newsweek reporter, stating that "The war has only just begun; the Americans should now await the answer." [22]
  • Harakat flag.png Harkat-ul-Mujahideen also threatened to retaliate, saying "The Americans and Jews should now prepare for their destruction. The self-respecting Muslims of the world ... have announced they will wage a holy war against America."[18]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Embassy Attacks Thwarted, U.S. Says; Official Cites Gains Against Bin Laden; Clinton Seeks $10 Billion to Fight Terrorism
  2. ^ Statement of William S. Cohen (Page 9 of PDF)
  3. ^ a b Look at the Place! Sudan Says, 'Say Sorry,' but U.S. Won't, The New York Times, 2005/10/20
  4. ^ Universalism and the West
  5. ^ To Bomb Sudan Plant, or Not: A Year Later, Debates Rankle
  6. ^ Sudan shifts from pariah to partner
  7. ^ New York Times, August 27, 1998, p.A8
  8. ^ Steve Coll (2005) Ghost Wars (paperback ed.) 409-10. Penguin: ISBN 0-14-303466-9.
  9. ^ Coll, 410.
  10. ^ Coll, 411.
  11. ^ http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/hua.htm Harakat ul-Ansar (HUA)
  12. ^ Rashid, Taliban (2000), p.134)
  13. ^ New York Times, August 22, 1998, p.A10
  14. ^ New York Times, August 21, 1998, p.A8
  15. ^ nationally televised presidential address
  16. ^ Gertz, Bill, "Inside The Ring: Missing bin Laden", Washington Times, September 18, 2008, pg. B1.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Muslims, Yeltsin denounce attack, CNN, August 21, 1998
  18. ^ a b Thousands stage anti-U.S. protest in Sudan, CNN, August 22, 1998
  19. ^ New York Times August 21, 1998, p.A13
  20. ^ Explosion rips through Planet Hollywood in South Africa, CNN, August 25, 1998
  21. ^ Chechnya declares war on USA, PTI, Aug 23 1998
  22. ^ Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower (2005), page 323. Vintage Books: ISBN 978-1-4000-3084-2

[edit] External links

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