The Pentagon planned a press conference this week to unveil the Gulf War Air Power Survey-a two-year, multimillion-dollar review of the air war over Iraq and Kuwait. But two findings in the report may have changed the air force’s mind. First: though coalition air forces destroyed much of Iraq’s infrastructure, there’s no evidence this “strategic bombing” affected the outcome of the war. Second: the air force wasn’t as successful at hitting targets like mobile Scud missile launchers as had been thought. Says one source familiar with the study: “I think the air force is worried the media will try to draw conclusions about our likely success against Serb artillery.”
