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"In 1991 Saddam and his ilk were confident that his air force would be safe in the hardened shelters. Unfortunately for them, the companies that had been responsible for the construction of these shelters provided the technical details to the Western intelligence agencies, and methods were devised to destroy them. Saddam also underestimated the power and accuracy of laser guided weapons.

"In spite of this, and the numerical and technical supremacy that the allies had, the Iraqi Air Force still managed to fly a number of sorties every day for the first week. The mass exodus of aircraft to Iran also caught US commanders by surprise, an initially they were powerless to prevent it. Eventually CAPs were placed over Baghdad to stem the flow, long tedious missions that led to them being withdrawn after a few days. The exodus then started again..."

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