European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Marine corps recruits Don Gas masks during Basic training at Parris Island . Fear of Iraq s Arsenal of Che Micai weaponry is shared by both the military and civilians As tension mounts in saudi Arabia. Massive deployment iraqis chemical weapons pose greatest fear by Youssef Ibrahim new York times maj Gen. William g. Pagonis keeps his Gas mask and protective clothes in a bag by his feel As he surveys senior officers inside the saudi air Force base at Dhahran where they Are directing the largest american troop deployment since the Vietnam War. A phones Are ringing. The room a theater converted into a Cor Inland Headquarters for about 50 army men and women is dotted with tables around which the officers dressed in desert yellow and Green fatigues talk quietly. A the general known As Gus is directing All logistical open s1ions for tens of thousands of american troops who Are Landing around the clock in the Eastern part of saudi Arabia tar and away the area most vulnerable to an iraqi air plane missile or land attack a in to shimmering heat which rises to 120 degrees in midday the hazy shape of giant c-5a Galaxy planes can tie seen taking off and Landing every five or 10 minutes. I. Veil so. Dozens of american and saudi residents of , i lie nerve censor of tie saudi Oil Industry can to or by hide their edginess at the thought that hundreds of iraqi tanks and As Many As 120,000 iraqi troops Are at the  Border a Lille less than 200miles to the North. Quot to s is the first time since world War ii that we have had an operation on this scale Quot Pagonis said As some of his  aides pored Over a giant reap of saudi Arabia Ano my arabian Peninsula adding stickers that indicate the Wing size of the american fees being deployed  a. A the first priority is to get these killers in the Sand Quot a to i tenant colonel said. I hey went up there with their weapons and rations and Cut was Alt Quot he said of the loops that have m -. Lined Mlo saudi Arabia Over the last few Days _ a a a a ratios wifi have to come later Quot i i saudi government is paying for everything we be 1 them for Quot Pagonis said Quot they Are very grateful for of .1 in a and  i Haven to seen such col i ration since i was stationed in Berlin Quot t it a so. Several Hundred thousand of the saudis and i pollutes living in the Triangle of Dhahran a Khobiar Page 16 the stars and stripes and dam Mam have left the Region. Executives and workers who have to stay there to work at the Aramco Oil company and a dozen Oil related installations have sent their families out of the country since Iraq invaded neighbouring Kuwait. Quot expatriates Are resigning in Large numbers from their jobs trying to get their benefits and bonuses now just in Case the situation tips Over As in Kuwait Quot a saudi business executive said adding that Many of his filipino and asian workers Are asking to leave their jobs As soon As possible. A a. The pressure is most telling with saudis who live in the Eastern part of saudi Arabia which has benefited from the Oil Boom of the last two decades immensely. Showing a guest around his Villa a saudi businessman said Quot i Don t want to see All this go Down the Drain i live Here my Mother lives in the Villa next door and i have a $700,000 investment hero that is sinking in value As we  the greatest fear is of Iraq s chemical weapons and the fear is shared by military and civilians saudis and foreigners the anxiety has been compounded by pamphlets that have been distributed telling people what to do in Cas of a chemical attack which basically amounts to very Little. The pamphlets Are being faxed across saudi Arabia and the Gulf and one of them was published a few Days ago by the English language daily saudi Gazette among other things it counsels people who might face a chemical attack to Quot look out of your windows for Birds dropping from the Trees cats dogs and people dropping and choking cars crashing and general panic which Are signs of a Gas  1 he dimension of the Shock being Feit there is amplified m tie eyes of the Ordinary saudi citizen by the Stream of refugees arriving from Kuwait they Are also pouring into neighbouring Arab Gulf states such As Bahrain she United Arab emirates and Oman. Saudis Stop their cars in tie streets to direct cars with kuwaiti License plates to tire nearest Aid Center where the saudi government has made furnished apartments available and immediately extends financial and food assistance to the kuwaitis est mated to number tens of thousands in saudi Arabia alone wednesday August 22, 1590convoy to Freedom by Steve Coll Washington Post is name is Steve Diemler and he s one of those americans you be read about a escapees who arrive in dust covered convoys at Border posts in the saudi arabian desert who embrace their nomadic bedouin guides doff Arab disguises and then kiss the hoods of their jeeps or Bear hug saudi soldiers they be never met before. They re out of Kuwait. They re going Home. Diemler is 35 years old a father of three and a 10-year employee of itt in Kuwait City. His wife and children Are in Missouri where they went for summer vacation in june he called them when he reached a phone at a saudi hotel hours after he crossed the Border. Quot they were very emotional Quot he said his own eyes Welling. After initial reluctance to use the term president Bush now bluntly Calls the trapped detainees in Kuwait and Iraq Quot hostages a. And As Diemler and others from his Convoy stumble into hotel rooms to Shower and Telephone relatives and Book themselves on the first available flights out of saudi Arabia they show those same hot emotions that poured Forth after hostage dramas in Iran and Lebanon. They re angry at reporters who might try to exploit them. They re sometimes bitter toward their own government for failing to do enough. They re worried about the ones they left behind. They re tearful and exhausted. They want Beer. For Diemler the turning Point came aug. 16 when the iraqi government ordered All americans and britons in Kuwait to gather at a downtown Kuwait City hotel until then he said things had been moving along All right. The americans trapped in the City stayed in touch with each other by phone and kuwaitis who could move in the streets with relative ease made sure those a it s unreal Quot the saudi business executive said. Quot i a Wake up every morning and think this could have happened to me. The Good life could be gone in one blow. A it 1 Quot i Don t want any War Here no matter How Many american troops there Are and whatever advanced weapons they carry Quot the saudi executive said. Quot it is a risk i Don t think we should take. All i dream of is to hear a radio announcement saying Saddam Hussein has been killed or overthrown and it will be All Over with. Quot we have built this country from nothing to what it is today in 20 years Quot he added. Quot my fear is that the americans Are like the fireman who comes to put the fire out and destroys your House in the  this spreading panic is in the View of Many there doing much damage already even if the situation does not deteriorate to War one saudi official said saudi Arabia depends on 3 million expatriates to run a Broad segment of the country s service Industry including its water desalination plants Power plants Banks and the Oil Industry Quot what if Many of them done to want to come Back and. Others Are frightened away Quot the official said. Quot eventually i think we Are going to have to pay much More for expatriates to work  much of the worry generated there seems to be largely a result of a general Lack of precise information about the military buildup and its whereabouts. Much of the news about the Stream of american and other foreign troops coming in is teamed from foreign radio stations that most saudis listen to including iraqi radio bbl world service British broadcasting corp and the voice of America