Is the U.S. Playing Into Iraq's Hands?

From a military standpoint, U.S. planes accomplished almost nothing in confronting Iraqi fighter aircraft Tuesday morning over the southern no-fly zone: Apparently none of the air-to-air missiles fired by the four U.S. planes -- two Air Force F-15s and two Navy F-14s -- struck their targets. But U.S. policy almost certainly took a PR hit. "Saddam Hussein is trying to show that the U.S. has run out of options," says TIME U.N. Correspondent William Dowell.

Saddam's strategy is to goad the U.S. into repeated reprisals which would give the impression that all the U.S. cares about is punishment. "The more the U.S. bites, the more Saddam can then use the U.S. attacks to rouse domestic and international sympathy to lobby against the sanctions that are hurting his country," says Dowell. For now, Saddam appears to have hit upon an effective strategy. The question for U.S. officials is whether they can come up with a valid counter-strategy. Until they do, expect more clashes -- and more American frustration.