Today in History ON THIS DAY, DECEMBER 16, 1998 Bill Clinton Ordered Air Attack On Iraq

Former United States President Bill Clinton ordered air strikes against Iraq because it refused to cooperate with United Nations (UN) weapons inspectors. Clinton’s decision did not have the support of key members of Congress, who accused him of using the air strikes to direct attention away from ongoing impeachment proceedings against him.

Just the day before, the House of Representatives had issued a report accusing Clinton of committing “high crimes and misdemeanours” related to the Monica Lewinsky scandal, in which Clinton had—and then lied about—an illicit sexual liaison with an intern in the Oval Office.