Tornados in lead as Operation Desert Fox takes off

British forces became involved in the biggest military venture of US Pres. Bill Clinton's presidency on Dec. 17, 1998, when RAF Tornado pilots took off from Kuwait to launch a second wave of strikes against Iraq. The first wave of strikes on Dec. 16, 1998, had been designed to cripple Iraq's air defences. They had also been aimed at the headquarters of Iraqi military intelligence in Baghdad, Iraq, and at barracks housing some members of Pres. Saddam Hussein's most trusted unit, the Special Republican Guard, which the US claims is directly responsible for Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.