European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 24, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday. August 24, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 3 a ital f crisis in the Gnu a it >.4 is in i i i Quot i. Us m m r w pm it it a a t a a  1 a. 1\ it tit i i of t a my a a a f of a a wry Zimmt my s f a of a a. -4.i.v,. $ a a a a a we . Sailors stand on deck alongside two fighter jets aboard the aircraft Carrier Saratoga As it passes through the Suez canal on wednesday in route to the persian Culf. Iraq has the Force but not know How experts say by Dave Diehl . Bureau the iraqis could inflict heavy casualties on . Forces in the Middle East and also bring the world Economy to its Knees British defense analysts believe. However the .-dominated air forces now massing in the persian Gulf would certainly win the Battle of the air said Nick Cook the air forces editor of the authoritative Jane s defence weekly. A i they take the War to the iraqis they will undoubtedly do very Well a Cook said. . Air Power would first attack iraqis command and control centers and radar he believes. A they would also close Down the airfields. That would leave the iraqi air Force helpless a the iraqis have formidable airborne weaponry but not necessarily the experience to use it Cook said. He takes Issue with those who say that Iraq can Call on its experience from its right year War with Iran which he said was largely a ground War. A people say they Are Battle hardened Quot Cook said. Quot i dispute that. The air component of the Gulf w a was not characterized by dogfights and mass Aerial  Cook said that the iraqis even with modern planes like soviet built Mig-29s, arc facing a military that has spent 40 years preparing to fight a similar but larger conflict with the Eastern bloc. That is experience that the British French and american forces in the Gulf can draw on. The biggest Challenge for iraqi air Force commanders Cook said would be to gel their aircraft a to work As a single unified  on the ground the iraqis have Modem and effective equipment including weapon systems from the United Stales Britain the soviet Union France and Brazil but they done to necessarily know How to use it said Ian Hogg a retired British army artillery officer and the author of nearly 100 books Many on ground forces and equipment. A having the Best armory in the world in t the most important thing Quot Hogg said. A the tally of equipment does no to Tell the whole  Paul Rogers a defense analyst at the University of Bradford England believes an iraqi ground attack must be preceded by attacks on . Land and Carrier based air assets. A if the iraqis could in some Way damage those targets they limit the . Control of airspace Quot he said. A i Hen they could hit saudi Arabia with a ground  the iraqis however would have a difficult time doing that with any degree of Success he believes. Rogers also thinks the United states is ready for a desert War thanks largely to  10 years of preparation by the Florida based . Central come. He said however that a the iraqis have one or two Imin ensely important cards to play. All they have to do is to severely damage a Large portion of the saudi Oil facilities and they create havoc for the world  if iraqi president Saddam Hussein faces defeat a he can take the rest of the world with him Quot Rogers said. A a he a wreak  1st strike by .-led forces might be a unavoidable Bradford England a iraqi president Saddam Hussein won t necessarily be the one to Start a War in the persian Gulf according to or. Paul Rogers a defense analyst at the University of Bradford. If president Bush sees that Iraq is amassing or preparing for a first strike the action he lakes could make a significant difference in the number of casualties suffered by the .-led International Force Rogers believes. A what other option docs he have if he gets intelligence that says that the iraqis Are getting ready for a strike the pressure on the . To strike first would be almost unavoidable Quot Rogers said. The iraqis May hold a similar View. A the whole thing will come Down to a hair trigger response a Rogers said of the face off. A Iraq May feet that its Only option is to strike first in some kind of devastating  he said Iraq might use a Surprise first strike to damage important  air bases in saudi Arabia Oman and at incur he a Turkey As Well As naval targets such As the four . Aircraft carriers in the leg on. Rogers believes the most tense times in the guff and around the saudi iraqi Border Are ahead after a Tull complement of american forces have been put into place. A i done to think anything will Start for another three weeks a unless Iraq deliberately and blatantly goes into full scale War a a he said. A the real standoff starts next  if Saddam does Start the fighting however he May do so after saying just rite opposite when he is a appearing to bark Down a Rogers us d. A the greatest period of danger is when the iraqis say a of we give  Quot a Imok Diehl soviet weapons advisers continue to train iraqis Moscow apr soviet military experts Are still training iraqi soldiers to use their soviet built weapons three weeks after Moscow Cut arms supplies to protest the invasion of Kuwait officials said wednesday. The revelation appeared to open cracks in what had been unprecedented -soviet Unity in the 3-Vvcek-old persian Gulf crisis. Col. Valentin Ogurtsov said 193 unarmed military experts were finishing their a contractual obligations in Iraq to show its military How to use state of the Art tanks Jet fighters and missiles and How to maintain and repair the hardware. Ogurtsov and foreign ministry spokesman Yuri remit sikh insisted the experts were not advising president Saddam Hussein a government and were not involved in military operations. Since iraqis aug 2 invasion of Kuwait remit sikh has maintained he did not know what the military experts were doing in the Arab nation. Confirmation of the advisers actions came Only Houts after soviet prime minister Nikolai Ryzhkova ordered ail soviet agencies to sever commercial lies with Iraq to comply with . Sanctions. More than half of the weapons Baghdad bought Between 1982 and 1989 came from the soviet Union. The Day after the kuwaiti invasion the soviet Union halted arms shipments to Iraq its longtime ally and Ogurtsov said wednesday that one shipment was stopped in transit. On the same Day. Foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze and Secretary of stale James Baker signed a rare joint statement condemning iraqis attack on its Oil Rich neighbor. But the revelations wednesday and reports from the muted nations that the soviets were slowing efforts to get . Approval for military enforcement of economic sanctions appeared to undercut tiie initial appearance of Unity. For More than an hour remit sikh and Ogurtsov fended of questions about whether the military experts continuing work violated the . Economic embargo or the Sov Jet order. A a done Tom i the soviet Union a remit sikh said. �?�1 done to think this presence of a Var. Small number of military and technical experts. Runs coun Ter to the United nations  he said nationals from other countries continued to work in Iraq but he did not identify their professions or their countries. Remit sikh also said that when the contracts expire the military experts will leave and won t be replaced. Ogurtsov said the contracts Lang cd from 10 Days to one year. Ogurtsov said that when the soviet government contracted to sell weapons to Iraq it a so agreed to a Send technical experts to help the iraqi military to learn How to use the arms  when asked Why military experts were not recalled As part of the soviet arms embargo lie said a a it a not Tor me to say. The decisions Are taken not by us. But at the poll ical