George W. BushPresident of the United States Saddam HusseinPresident of Iraq Hamid Raja ShalahAir Force Commander Operation Southern Focus was a period in the months leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq (called "Operation Iraqi Freedom" in the United States) in which the military responses to violations of the southern Iraqi no-fly zones were increased, with more intensive bombing of air defense artillery installations and other military complexes.

It was intended to be a "softening up" period prior to invasion, degrading Iraq's air defense and communication abilities.

The Iraqi no-fly zones had been patrolled continuously since the end of the 1991 Gulf War, and bombings by American and coalition fighter aircraft had taken place on a regular basis.

Iraq's only success came on 23 December 2002, when a USAF RQ-1 Predator UAV was experimentally armed with AIM-92 Stingers and sent to patrol the no-fly zone in an attempt to bait Iraqi fighters into combat.

[4] The first combat use of the U.S. Navy's new F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter-bomber occurred in November 2002 during Operation Southern Focus, when aircraft from Strike Fighter Squadron 115 (VFA-115) flying from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) struck surface-to-air missile sites and command and control targets near Al Kut.