European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 26, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes tuesday april 26. 1bbb Bernard e. Trainor revised rules help commanders in Gulf crisis Washington although a minor engagement by world War ii standards the persian Gulf Battle april 18 was the most significant american naval surface action sin the Flattie of Lyle Gulf in the Philippines in 1944 and underscored inc accuracy and dust activeness of mod pm High technology weapons. The sea Battle with Iran took place in the lower persian Gulf and raged intermittently for nine hours. When ii was Over six iranian warships were either sunk or crippled. Few american weapons were fired but they were effective according 10 administration reports. By coincidence the Samuel b. Rob ens which hit an iranian mine and Trig gered the Chain of events leading to the fight was also the name of a destroyer Cort that was sunk in the Leyte Gulf engagement. Samuel b. Roberts was an Early hero of the Pacific War. Warfare experts Here Drew a variety of military lessons from the april 18 Battle but they agreed that the use of High technology missiles and laser guided bomb fulfil in expectations and enhanced the military reputation of the . Navy. The action also recalled the lessons of the falklands War Between Britain and Argentina in 1982 find of inc accidental iraqi air attack on the . Frigate Stark in the persian Gulf last year. In both in stances it was made Clear that warships can be put out of action by a single hit from a modern anti ship missile or bomb. The British frigate Sheffield olt Lac Falk land and the Stark in the Gulf were each hit by French made exocet missiles. The Sheffield Sank and the Stark was crippled with the loss of 37 lives. In world War ii. Warships were a Mored and much of their equipment was manually or hydraulically operated. A a consequence these ships could sustain a great Deal of damage from enemy gunfire without being put out of action. Modern warships Are designed primarily As weapons platforms for Long Range missile or anti submarine use and not for Battle worthiness. As a result they arc crammed Wilh electronic systems that Are protected Only by thin Alloy hulls. A single hit May not sink such ships but can put them out of action by disabling their electronics. According to a naval Cupert Norman Polmar the object of a Modem naval Battle i simply to make a combatant Shin non combatant and you Jim Fain Don t have to sink it to do that Joseph Metcalf in a retired Admiral who commanded the . Joint task Force that invaded Grenada in 198said that because most nations have accurate land and sea based missiles such weapons Art Best dealt Wilh before they Are launched. Gelling off the first shot is important he said. While we have defensive systems to intercept an incoming missile it s much belter to destroy on enemy missile at its source before it is  but Metcalf disagreed with those who jul thai modern american warships arc fragile. He noted that the Stark did not sink after it was hit by two missiles As did the Sheffield after in was hit. He also pointed out thai the frigate Samuel b. Roberts also remained afloat even though its keel was broken Eugene j. Carroll jr., also a retired Admiral of the Center for defense information a Washington based research organization that frequently criticizes administration military policies agreed that shooting first is the Best tactic in a sea Battle but in a period of International tension in peacetime he said the Lac tic poses a dangerous problem for the on scene naval commander who must protect his ship but avoid a military action that could trigger b crisis. Many naval officers believe his is what the Captain of the frigate Stark faced in the minutes before an iraqi air plane launched two exocet against his ship last May. He held his fire and absorbed the attack rather than shoot Down the plane before it could fire. One Admiral said that reluctance to shoo is a greater problem than that of a trigger Happy commander. The Post War tradition he said is to avoid Mak ing a diplomatic Blunder by allowing the other fellow the first shot and Hose who wish us ill will probably Lake advantage of that in the future then he added Bui you Only get one free shot. After that look out. Another senior officer said the United states has matured in the Way it gives its commanders rules of engagement he said Washington has Learned Tucket a realistic policy governing inc use of Force that allows commanders Oit the Kerie Freedom to act. He said in the pall Here was a tendency in the White House the Pentagon and the state department 10overly manage events from Washington and to place � Many Rairick tint 00 focal commanders that disaster resulted at an example he cited the confusing guidance governing the actions of the marines in Lebanon in 1933 the action in the Gulf however indicated that Shin captains and attacking aircraft pilots had clearly understood inc limitations on their free Dom of action. The rules permitted . Forces to freely engage any iranians firing on american military or civilian targets. Bui the a-6 aircraft attacks on the iranian vessels firing on non american Oil plat forms to the Mubarak Oil Fields Wen out Side the authorized rules of engagement and required approval from the White House. This was Given within Ihrcke min utes of the request. Huttt Volt Tienmin to sonic Dukakis needs to rethink his position on defense Philadelphia Cov Michael Dukakis Doc Gedly Dull Campaign has swept into the closet though not by design the fact he s Well to the left of his party on defense. The drab in him Success fully drowns out inc Dove. Though he reefed in for super tuesday most of his foreign policy positions arc in tune ill Massachusetts Mcgovern ism. He is duelling optimistic about the Rule of International Law. After Reagan s Antic Cowboy ism we can use some respect for pro Tocol but it s dangerous to downplay the Jungle out there. Now thai the Duke s Campaign is on cruise control speculators shop the vice presidency but that s a phony Issue. A vice president hat All the Utility of an append ii. He s there in Case the president Dies but until alien is a nuisance to staff secret service air Crews and Yard workers. Jesse Jackson does t want the Job and would be a disaster. Ignoring the bigot vote a Price Worth paying he s hard left of Dukakis and frightens centrists. Sen. Sam Nunn a a. Would be Tine. He i one of the few politicians Low try enough to make Dukakis look charismatic. He s deep South. Conservative and defense guru Par excellence. Except for regional strengths vice presidents Are fully As irrelevant As they look however. What Dukakis needs is to rethink his message. That includes a College try fight on fair har Vard at humanizing his poli Sci 101 fascination with zoning ordinances into concerns people care about. Phony passion won t do but there must be a viscera in the Man some place. On defense he has three risky positions. He wants to restrict the new d-5 missile to research eliminate Midg Ciman and ban ballistic missile flight tests. The d-5 is the first submarine launched missile accurate enough to Knock out enemy missiles in their silos. Wilh the soviets now Able to erase our land baud missile Bice in a first strike we need this secure capability. It will be be even More important if we negotiate so percent cuts in land based missiles. Instead of holding up ass we ouch i to design smaller sub marines so we can deploy them with leu risk. As for midget Man it s the land based missile of Choice far less provocative of a first strike than the in warhead my that it bound to attract priority targeting in any Exchange. Even the Reagan administration which opposes midget Man admits in would stabilize Security. They shun in purely on � Dollar basis As Loo expensive to Man and maintain. The russians Are Well ahead of us in Mobile mis Siles buying already deployed their versions of both my rail deployed on warning and midget Man which is portable and can be truck deployed. Verifying any reductions in these forces is a i Horny Issue at Geneva. Single warhead Mobile missiles Are stabilizing in the nuclear race however. Since Middelman and ill soviet counterpart have Only one warhead apiece there s Little incentive to take them out with a com parable warhead in a first strike. Their mobility makes that difficult in any Case. Midget Man is the by and based missile for us in the foreseeable future. As to flight testing a moratorium May be in order but needs to be negotiated carefully to ensure we do not leave Moscow Wilh an advantage. Such a i ten Are far More important to survival than the romantic left likes to believe. Dukakis ought to do some serious rethinking in the few months he has left. Coi has Piu