European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 12, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes columns . Apple or. Error Offen has decisive role in military history the destruction of an iranian Airliner by an american missile in the persian Gulf an explosive intrusion into the peaceful celebrations of the nation s 212th birthday Over the fourth of july weekend came As a Sharp reminder of the pervasive role of error in military history. One element in the Victory that resulted in Independence for the american colonists was the failure of the British commanders to reshape their tactics formed on the conventional battlefields of Europe to suit the More rugged terrain and the far less predictable fight ing style of the colonial militias. That sort of error persists in our own Day but it has been joined by another the failure of technology or of the men supposedly qualified to manage it. A simple example in recent times was the m-16 Rifle developed As a counter insurgency weapon and widely heralded until the Vietnam War where american sol Diers found it so prone to jamming in the less than Antiseptic conditions of the Battlefield that Many Dis carded it. Another was the communications gear for a vast airborne assault by Allied forces on arnhem nether lands in world War ii. The 1944 assault operation Market Garden was crippled when radios issued to some units were found to be unable to use the frequencies assigned to other units. Much the same thing happened in the american operation in Grenada in 1983, although with much less serious consequences. When the technology involved is vastly More com plex than that of a Rifle or a two Way radio the chances for malfunction or mishap Are vastly increased. Helicopters for example Are highly sophisticated machines subject to frequent breakdown used in life and death situations they will often save lives. But they can Cost lives too As in the ill starred Mission designed to Rescue the american hostages held by Ira Nian militants at the unites states embassy in Tehran in april 1980. There Are few machines More complicated than the modern warship especially the aircraft carriers submarines and guided missile cruisers that form the cutting Edge of today s navies. A ship like the Vin Cennes which launched the weapon that brought Down the iranian Airliner is built to wage a kind of warfare that veterans of earlier conflicts can scarcely imagine. Using three dimensional radars computers and Bat teries of video displays the Navy has developed what it considers the most sophisticated missile defense sys tem Ever made. It is called the Aegis system and at least some senior figures in the defense Community have been wondering for a Long time whether it was beyond the capacity of the people who Man it at least on some ships. Lack of sufficient training or expertise is Only one kind of human error. Oversight is another. Airbus a 300s, like most commercial airliners Are usually equipped with a transponder that sends out data clearly identifying it to watching radars. Was the trans Ponder mistakenly turned off in this Case or had it broken Down or did a radar operator somehow mis Andrew Alexander holy Oil & revolution company unlimited Republican platform read its signals the consequences of human error or systems failure Are usually greatest of course when the tolerance for error is slightest. That has been a persistent problem in the persian Gulf. Adm. William j. Crowe jr., chairman of the joint chiefs of staff has described what i ships Are trying to do there As fighting in a  Man Euvera ability is greatly reduced and the time available for important decisions is compressed. In the july 3 engagement for instance the Vin Cennes and its accompanying vessels were operating in a Strait less than 30 Miles wide. By the Navy s account the Captain of the Vincennes capt. Will c. Rogers Iii had Only about three minutes to decide whether to fire on a plane that seemed to be hostile. However the system was designed for combat not at close quarters but in the open sea. There As retired adm. Stansfield Turner commented radar would Tell the ship s Captain of the approach of hostile aircraft when it was hundreds of Miles away not dozens and where airliners would be unlikely to venture in War time. There were at least three episodes in the persian Gulf last year in which american forces picked up what seemed like threatening approaches by hostile aircraft. In two of these no american missiles were launched. The frigate Stark was hit by an iraqi exocet missile and 37 americans were killed an episode much discussed by naval officers in the Gulf and iraqi jets menacing the Cruiser Richmond k. Turner veered off at the last moment. In the third incident last August a Navy fighter launched a pair of air to air missiles at a seemingly hostile iranian fighter but missed. Americans who who criticized the decision to place . Warships in harm s Way off the iranian coast argued that. President Reagan was inviting disaster through error or miscalculation precisely because time for decision and room for Man Euver were so Small in the Gulf. But the president with the reportedly reluctant sup port of Crowe decided that the foreign policy goals holding the soviet Union s influence in the area to a minimum and keeping the waterway open justified the risks. In the balancing act Between prudence and Resolution that presidents Are constantly asked to per form Reagan decided to be Tough. New York times news service policy shift unlikely despite renewed Gulf debate the accidental Downing of an Iran air passenger Jet has renewed con Gressional debate Over president Rea Gan s persian Gulf policy and sharply in creased fears that the United states is too deeply involved there. Despite growing concerns however lawmakers Are unlikely to press for Radi Cal policy changes before november elections especially with Public opinion polls reflecting Strong anti Iran senti ment among voters. Interviews in the aftermath of last sunday s tragedy reveal that Many con Gressional liberals and conservatives have concluded that the . Military presence is too Large and too vulnerable. However they disagree sharply Over How the United states allowed itself to get so involved what the goals should be and How to disengage. Further some lawmakers and foreign policy experts warn that the Navy not the White House or state department is now driving . Policy in the Gulf by its Mere presence there. Some charge that Reagan s hands off management style has allowed the Situa Tion to get Gui of control. Not All agree the policy has gone awry. I would agree that our role has expanded but it s a Clear one says sen. Richard Lugar r-ind., a member of the Senate foreign relations committee. We re trying to protect Neutral ship Ping. We re trying to keep the iranians at  the . Military role in the Gulf has grown enormously Over the past year and the Pentagon has received most of the blame for the escalation. But experts say the increased . Role has not been dictated by Pentagon brass. Indeed they note that former defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and his successor Frank Carlucci have both resisted Calls by Arab leaders to launch retaliatory attacks on key iranian land bases along the Gulf. The decisions to expand the Ameri can role have really been political says or. Andrew Goldberg a National Security expert with the Center for strategic and International studies in washing ton. It s the people in the White House and the state department. They see that we can easily blow up an iranian Oil plat form and then want us to throw a Mili tary Blanket Over the entire Gulf  adds a senior state department offi Cial this has not been a Pentagon show. This has been a state White House show. Our role has changed because the threats in the Gulf have changed. And yes we be expanded when we see an opening to extend our influence there but former Navy Secretary James Webb says it is the Basic . Mission that has changed. We seem to be allowing the Momen Tum of military operations to define what our Force Structure is rather than a clearly defined purpose he said on pcs Mcneil Lehrer news hour program. The expanded role worries even conservatives in Congress. It s an uncomfortable High risk Situa Tion we be gotten involved in concedes rep. Henry j. Hyde r-i1 a member of the House foreign affairs committee. But the worst thing now would be for us to pull Back or pull out. Hyde s solution shared by Many in Congress is to prevail upon american allies to commit greater naval forces to the Gulf. Cox news service