Last December, the United States and Britain launched Operation Desert Fox, a four-day bombing campaign on Iraq that effectively ended the inspections regime established by the United Nations after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The U.N. Security Council had been divided over the meaning and implementation of the sanctions regime; the attacks drove the wedge deeper. The differences have yet to be reconciled. The inspectors have not returned, and the U.N. has focused its attention elsewhere -- Kosovo and Indonesia, to name two prominent disputes -- since then. But the Iraq problem has not gone away. As the sanctions regime enters its 10th year, it is time to take stock, assess priorities and redesign the program to close the gap between aims and results.

Virtually unnoticed, the air war against Iraq continues. U.S. and British officials acknowledge that they have launched more than 100 attacks in the "no-fly zones" in northern and southern Iraq (Those zones, it should be mentioned, were set up by the coalition that won the Gulf War, not the U.N.). Over 100 people have been killed. Earlier this week, a military radar facility was bombed, the first airstrike after a five-day lull. Reportedly, 20 people were killed in the attack.

This hidden war is more intense than it seems. While the U.S. and British militaries talk of "attacks," each attack is made up of several airstrikes. It is estimated that the number of airstrikes could be over 500, or more than two a day since the beginning of the year. U.S. and British officials argue that they are merely acting in "self-defense," responding to "provocations" by Iraqi forces, but such provocations include turning on radars, and not necessarily firing shots. This week's attacks were on a radar facility that was south of the northern no-fly zone, technically out of the range of the area patrolled by the coalition forces.