European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 08, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Inside strikes o Iowa sen. Grassley criticizes policy on . Hostages Page 4 d 13 servicemen honoured for actions aboard Iowa Page 6 d no. 1 Syracuse beaten by Villanova sports Page 26 d Pilot killed As corporate Jet crashes at Miami Airport Back Paget i Bac Page vol. 48, no. 266 monday january 6, 1990h of .&., d 8693 a . Ponders drug blockade by Susanne m. Scizia feral military Filer Washington the aircraft car Rier John f. Kennedy has been chosen to Lead an anti drug interdiction Effort off inc coast of Colombia. But final decisions about when the warship May be put to work Haven t been made a defense department source said saturday. The Carrier and an accompanying guided missile Cruiser the Virginia left Carrier Juk would Lead Effort Norfolk. Va., on thursday to engage in routine training exercises in the Atlantic a Pentagon official said. He said however a question Mark remained Aslo when and if the warships would see duly in a proposed .-co Lobian anti drug interdiction Effort. That s the group. The Juk is inc one to be used said the official. Hut in s still a question when they d be put to  two colombian radio networks. Cara col and run on saturday quoted unnamed Pentagon sources As saying the ships were headed toward Colombia to begin setting up a blockade to try to Stop drug smugglers. But the Pentagon official said the final plans were still being worked Oul on a Pentagon proposal to launch a virtual air see blockade on Back Page elite rangers suffered heaviest Panama losses by the los Angeles times Washington the heaviest concentration of . Army casualties in the Panama invasion was suffered by an 850-Man contingent of rangers according to records and casualty reports made available to the los Angeles times. One in 18 soldiers was either killed or wounded when the rangers made a nighttime Parachute As Sault on a military Camp at Rio Halo on Panama specific coast. The elite Force which jumped into the heavily defended Camp from Only 500 feel above ground suffered most of its injuries in the jump itself. More than 24 soldiers were incapacitated by Bro Ken legs torn knee ligaments and other orthopaedic injuries sources said. Other casualties including the four army rang ers killed in the Rio Hato operation were put out of action during at least two hours of heavy fighting that followed the task Force red Parachute drop on dec. 20. The new account of the operation con rails with earlier official descriptions of a smooth engagement in which a pair of bombs dropped nearby by a stealth fighter Slun cd the enemy and permitted . Forces to capture the base with Only Light casualties. The extent of Parachute related injuries alone was about triple the proportion normally expected in such operations. And it was More than six times the casualty rate suffered by rangers in their octo Ber 1983 assault on Grenada officials and military historians  blamed the higher injury rate in the Rio Hato assault on the fact that the paratroopers were not accustomed to jumping at such a Low  addition they said the paratroopers had to con tend with darkness and equipment loads of More than 100 pounds As they sought to land on the Rock hard air strip of the panamanian Camp. Because the Rio Hato assault won an essential Victory Over the fiercely Loyal 6th and 7th infantry companies of the panamanian defense forces . Military spokesmen said they were not greatly Trou bled by the High concentration of casualties. They noted the alternative to the broken Bones suffered in the Low level Parachute drop might have been Bullet wounds from hostile fire that began while paratroopers were still in the  . Military officials in Panama disclosed that planning for the Rio Hato assault was far less extensive than for other Long rehearsed elements of pvt. Darren James Murphy who was wounded in Panama is greeted on his arrival at Indianapolis by his father James and on aunt Jancel Anderson. Inc operation. The Rio Hato preparations began in october when panamanian troops based at the Camp played a major role in foiling a coup attempt against Man Uel Noriega. One military source said tie believed see Panama on Back Page Gysi urges Germany troop cuts by the Washington Post East Berlin f ast German communist party chief Gregor Gysi called on Hast and West Germany to halve their armed forces by the end of exl year and urge that All foreign troops leave both Ger Many by 199. Gysi a 41-year-old reformer chosen to head the part last month proposed a disarmament plan saturday calling for immediate abolition of Low Altitude military test flights in both Germany and establishment of a 50-mile-widedemilitarized corridor along their Border. The communist chiefs proposals presented to the party s executive Board appeared aimed in part at Demon Strating to East germans that the party has dropped it former hard line views. Under Gysi s Security 2000" plan the Only weapons remaining in Europe by the turn of the Century would be Small arms for local police agencies. The communist Leader called for removing All nuclear and chemical weapon from German soil and recommended dissolution of nato and the Warsaw pact. Between the urals and the Atlantic there should be no nuclear weapons no biological or chemical weapons no tanks cannons bombers or combat helicopters Gysi said. By stepping far ahead of the current disarmament de Bate Gysi appeared to be seeking to gain credibility an support for his corruption riddled parly and Blunt Calls for unification of East and West Germany. Gysi made his announcement two Days before massive weekly anti government demonstrations in Leipzig Are to resume after a Holiday break. The demonstrations which helped topple the hard line government of former party Leader Erich Honecker in october have become a forum for increasingly Strong Calls for a single German state. Gysi s proposal parallels Strong sentiment among East and West germans against use of German soil As a euro Pean staging area for weapons and troops of both major military alliances. The United slates has about 250,000 troops in West Germany and about 380,000 soviet troops Are stationed in East Germany. The West German government saturday denied a newspaper report that it plans cuts in military strength beyond those announced last month. The West germans had announced plans to decrease their armed forces by one fifth from nearly 495,000 to 400,000. If arms control talks under Way in Vienna arc successful. The report said the cuts would be increased bringing total manpower Down to 350,000. Doily Magazine ? $ i iwo i a a  " \. Of "