[comp.sys.att] U.S. Air Force bombs AT&T !!

jbreeden@netcom.UUCP (John Breeden) (01/22/91)

(San Jose Mercury News, Jan 17th, 1991)

SHOT HEARD ROUND THE GULF HIT AT&T SITE

IN SAUDI ARABIA (AP) - The opening shot of the war with Iraq was a 2,000 
pound bomb dropped squarely into the AT&T building in downtown Bagdad by
a Stealth fighter, an Air Force commander disclosed today.

Col Alton C. Whitley, commanding the 37th Tactical Figher Wing, told reporters 
at the air base where Stealth 117A fighers are based that Thursday's attack 
had been a brilliant success. He credited new technology that enables 
aircraft to avoid radar detection and split-second timing in planning and 
executing the attack.

Whitley said F117As from two squadrons carried out some 30 sorties against 
80 Iraqi targets in the pre-dawn hours Thursday. The results of these attacks 
where shown to reporters in dramatic video footage recorded by sensors in the 
planes.

The American Telephone & Telegraph Co. building, near the Tigris River, was 
a target because of the communications it provided the Iraqi armed forces. 
In the video footage, the building comes into the cross-hair site centered 
on it's roof to control the flight of the laser guided bomb.

As the building passes beneath the fighter, still undetected by Iraqi 
defenses, the viewer sees a mighty blast hurling debris from all sides of 
the building.

myamin@cbnewsm.att.com (m.yamin) (01/23/91)

From article <21583@netcom.UUCP>, by jbreeden@netcom.UUCP (John Breeden):
> (San Jose Mercury News, Jan 17th, 1991)
> 
> SHOT HEARD ROUND THE GULF HIT AT&T SITE
> 
> IN SAUDI ARABIA (AP) - The opening shot of the war with Iraq was a 2,000 
> pound bomb dropped squarely into the AT&T building in downtown Bagdad by
> a Stealth fighter, an Air Force commander disclosed today.
> 
AT&T says they don't have a building in Iraq; the report must refer
to something else.  Maybe MCI?

rdb@mtunf.ATT.COM (Ron DeBlock) (01/23/91)

In article <21583@netcom.UUCP> jbreeden@netcom.UUCP (John Breeden) writes:
>(San Jose Mercury News, Jan 17th, 1991)
>
>SHOT HEARD ROUND THE GULF HIT AT&T SITE
>
>IN SAUDI ARABIA (AP) - The opening shot of the war with Iraq was a 2,000 
>pound bomb dropped squarely into the AT&T building in downtown Bagdad by
>a Stealth fighter, an Air Force commander disclosed today.


The AT&T internal electronic newsletter says the above report is absolutely
false.  It further states that AT&T has (had) no buildings in Iraq.

The media has issued retractions.



-- 
Ron DeBlock     N2JSO    		If God had meant for Man
rdb@mtunf.att.com			to see the sun rise, He
!mtunf!rdb				would have scheduled it
					later in the day.

sbbrown@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Stephen B. Brown) (01/23/91)

From article <21583@netcom.UUCP>, by jbreeden@netcom.UUCP (John Breeden):
>> (San Jose Mercury News, Jan 17th, 1991)
>> SHOT HEARD ROUND THE GULF HIT AT&T SITE
>> IN SAUDI ARABIA (AP) - ... 2,000 pound bomb dropped squarely into
>> the AT&T building in downtown Bagdad ...
In article <1991Jan22.182709.23158@cbnewsm.att.com> myamin@cbnewsm.att.com (m.yamin) writes:
>AT&T says they don't have a building in Iraq; the report must refer
>to something else.  Maybe MCI?

(According to National Public Radio:) The building was the Iraqi PTT
(Public Telephone & Telegraph) headquarters.  It was referred to by
an Air Force officer as an AT&T building in the generic sense, i.e.,
a phone company building.  The reference to AT&T was widely reported
in the media.  I assume AT&T disapproves of this use of its trademark,
as well as the unintentional publicity.
-- 
Steve Brown                   sbbrown@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu

norm@cfctech.cfc.com (Norman J. Meluch) (01/24/91)

From article <21583@netcom.UUCP>, by jbreeden@netcom.UUCP (John Breeden):
> (San Jose Mercury News, Jan 17th, 1991)
> 
> IN SAUDI ARABIA (AP) - The opening shot of the war with Iraq was a 2,000 
> pound bomb dropped squarely into the AT&T building in downtown Bagdad by
> a Stealth fighter, an Air Force commander disclosed today.
 
myamin@cbnewsm.att.com (m.yamin) writes:
>AT&T says they don't have a building in Iraq; the report must refer
>to something else.  Maybe MCI?

NPR announced today that the building was not an AT&T building, but the
Iraqi PT&T (Public Telephone & Telegraph) building.  The pilots of the
mission were told to "think of it as 'their' version of AT&T".

Moreover they said that the amount of damage done by bombing the *top* of
of such a building was suspect, since most of the "critical" equipment
for telecommunications was probably stored underground, due to terrorist
concerns in the middle east.

						- Norm.
-- 
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Norman J. Meluch ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Mail: norm@cfctech.cfc.com           Fax:(313)948-4975  Voice:(313)948-4809 |
| Note: The opinions expressed here are in no way to be confused with valid   |
|_______ideas or corporate policy.____________________________________________|

jmm@eci386.uucp (John Macdonald) (01/25/91)

|> IN SAUDI ARABIA (AP) - The opening shot of the war with Iraq was a 2,000 
|> pound bomb dropped squarely into the AT&T building in downtown Bagdad by
|> a Stealth fighter, an Air Force commander disclosed today.
|> 
|AT&T says they don't have a building in Iraq; the report must refer
|to something else.  Maybe MCI?

It seems that they got their quote backwards, it should have read
that an Air Force bomber got a direct strike on the AT&T stealth
building.  Even AT&T doesn't know about it.

:-)
-- 
Cure the common code...                      | John Macdonald
...Ban Basic      - Christine Linge          |   jmm@eci386