Future role of air power in Iraq unclear, open-ended

Published: Apr 03, 2006
Source: www.airforcetimes.com



BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- Balad's two runways, among the world's busiest, launch 27,500 aircraft a month, hundreds of them bomb-laden jets flying close air support for U.S. troops moving against insurgents.

But as the Army “stands down” and the Iraqi army “stands up,” will American combat pilots likewise fly into battle behind Iraqi ground units?

“That’s a good question,” says the Air Force’s tactical commander in Iraq.

That good question may grow pressing as the year wears on, if Iraqi officers begin asking for U.S. airstrikes on questionable targets in Iraq’s shadowy, many-sided conflict.continue..