Bombing of Afghanistan and Sudan (August 1998)
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| Operation Infinite Reach | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Post-Cold War era | |||||||||
 Pharmaceutical factory in Shifa, Sudan destroyed during Operation Infinite Reach |
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| Combatants | |||||||||
| United States | al-Qaeda | ||||||||
| Commanders | |||||||||
| General Tony Zinni | Osama Bin Laden | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| circa 10 war ships & 5 submarines | unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties | |||||||||
| none | around 100 killed or wounded | ||||||||
The August 1998 bombings of Afghanistan and Sudan (code-named Operation Infinite Reach, by the US) were US cruise missile strikes on purported terrorist bases in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan on August 20, 1998. The attack was in retaliation for the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people (including 12 Americans) and injured 5,000 others.
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. 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 Clinton and Bush administrations; but none has been given, since U.S. intelligence apparently 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." (Page 9) (PDF)
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 1980s."[2]. 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 [3] in which he estimated that the attack "probably led to tens of thousands of deaths" of Sudanese civilians. The U.S. State Department 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."[4] 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."[5] 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 privately still suspect that chemical weapons activity existed there.[6]
About 75 cruise missiles landed in Afghanistan, where bin Laden's al-Qaida group was believed to have camps. About 20 people died in the Afghan strikes, and dozens were wounded in Sudan.
President Bill Clinton announced the attacks in a TV address, saying the target was terror. Some, however, 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 address that he had an inappropriate relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. This address followed President Clinton's grand jury testimony earlier that day (see Wag the Dog).
The president of Sudan harshly condemned the assault on his country, as did the Taliban in Afghanistan. Massive protests were staged around the world, mostly in Muslim countries, denouncing the attacks. In "retaliation", a Muslim organization bombed a Planet Hollywood restaurant in Cape Town, South Africa on August 25, killing two and injuring 26. Osama bin Laden also pledged to attack the US again.[citation needed]
