The missing footnotes from Chapter 12:

421: NAVOPINTCEN SUITLAND MD message 1020382, April 1988 (this is a USN intelligence document, released to the authors in response to a FOIA inquiry).

422: Payback - America's Long War in the Middle East, Brassey's, 1991.

423: The IRIAF too carried out several retaliatory strikes into Iraq during this period, with the most extensive one being flown against the Basrah's petrochemical plant, on 15 and 16 February. But the bulk of Iranian air attacks concentrated on Iraqi military targets and supply areas.

424: On 16 March, the USN reported directly to IrAF that "the Iranian oil terminals are very active", and that the "IRIAF's air defense patrols are minimal" in the area around Khark. Shortly before the strike was launched, on 19 March, another message from the USN arrived in Iraq, reporting the area around Khark Island as a "Shooting Gallery", full or large and slow moving Iranian targets.

425: From the standpoint of a sailor, the USN officer was certainly right: this raid alone caused the greatest loss of life during the whole "Tanker War," making up for nearly 10% of the total casualties!

426: The number of shot down Iraqi aircraft reported here is according to USN reports; i.e. it mentions only those "kills" recorded and confirmed by radar monitoring done by USN ships operating nearby. The experience showed that this monitoring was not always 100% accurate, and that very often it would not recognize all that happened. Therefore, it is very likely that additional Iraqi planes were shot down during this second strike, and possibly some more during the third Iraqi wave, flown at 1500hrs, which apparently consisted of heavily escorted reconnaissance planes. By that time, according to the USN reports, the IRIAF MIM-23B site at Khark had apparently fired all of its missile rounds, and was urgently requesting a replacement from the mainland.

427: Various reports from Iranian newspapers and war communiqués.

428: This bomb was first used during the Karbala-5 Offensive against the Iraqi troop and armor concentrations, with devastating effect. The blast destroyed everything in the 1-2km radius and affected a 1-5km radius. The IRGC first tested the weapon in the Ramhormuz region, and then IRIAF pilots practiced to use the bomb for about one year. Equipped with two small wings on each side, the new Iranian bomb could glide for about 8-12km before reaching its target, giving it a reasonable stand-off range.