Iraq War 2003: Background & Lessons

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February 24, 2003

French Deploy Mirages IVs to Saudi Arabia for Iraq Verification

Two AMD Mirage IV of the French Air Force (Armée de l’air) strategic reconnaissance squadron ERS 1/91 of the FAF took of from Istres, France, for Saudi Arabia, on the morning of February 21, 2003, and were to be operational by February 22, 2003, flying the UN flag. The aircraft were flying for UNMOVIC (Commission de Contrôle, de Vérification et d'Inspection de l'ONU) inspections of Iraqi compliance on weapons programs. The two aircraft had been waiting at Istres since February 14, 2003.