European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 26, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A Azin Etest available copy standoff with Saddam Mammoth multinational buildup by Molly Moore Washington Post 1 ours after the acting a regional . Commander h i arrived in saudi Arabia he 13 h asked his senior army officer for an assessment of How much military Power his service could immediately Call upon to defend the threatened kingdom. Army it. Gen. John j. Yeosock reached into his pocket pulled out a tiny Silver Penknife opened the Blade and pointed it at air Force it. Gen. Charles Horner who was in command of the . Middle East forces atthe time. Quot Here you go buddy. This is it Quot Yeosock recalled telling his Friend. Not any longer. In the nearly seven weeks since a Day the Pentagon a shorthand for the commencement of operation desert shield the . Military has amassed on the arabian Peninsula the most sophisticated High technology array of weapons and equipment Ever fielded in a combat zone. On the opposite Side of the saudi Border with Kuwait iraqi president Saddam Hussein whose forces invaded the persian Gulf emirate aug. 2, has assembled almost one half of his entire military a the fourth largest and most combat hardened in the world a along with an Arsenal of surface to surface and ground to air missiles. Standing Between those two forces is a thin shield of Arab troops a primarily saudis a which some . Military officials estimate could hold off an iraqi invasion for no More than two to four hours before collapsing and falling Back into american ranks. With such a Mammoth buildup on both sides of the Border Many . Military leaders say they believe it is virtually impossible to have so much hardware and so Many troops facing each other without eventual combat. When All of the forces that have been committed to saudi Arabia a including those from the United states Europe and Arab nations a arrive on the Peninsula More than 700,000 troops will be assembled in military zones along both sides of the Border. While iraqi equipment is considered no match for that of the High tech Western forces analysts say the sheer numbers of soldiers and tanks in Saddam a Arsenal pose formidable threat that cannot be countered by technology alone. Military intelligence officials estimate that about 365,000 iraqi troops have been moved into the Region South of Basra in Southern Iraq and into Kuwait. The number is expected to swell to about 400,000 in the next few weeks. . Intelligence sources now provide the military with hour by hour reports of the movements of the iraqi forces. Since the invasion Iraq has shifted its most qualified heavily armoured forces the Republican guard divisions from the front lines to the rear giving the military More Power to counter initial blows to its front now manned primarily by illiterate teen age conscripts according to . Officials. About 80,000 members of the Republican guards were the Shock troops in the aug. 2 storming of Kuwait but two weeks after the invasion . Intelligence detected their withdrawal to the Iraq Kuwait Border Region . Of Kiel is believe is an attempt to Koop them in Reserve As  Quot swing Force that could respond to assaults Moi Intel either from saudi Arabia by . And multinational armoured forces or from the persian Gulf by . Marines. The remaining 60,000 Republican guards Are concentrated in and around iraqis capital Baghdad to protect Saddam and the iraqi leadership from internal or external assault. While the combat capability of the Republican guards is highly rated . Military and intelligence officials say much of the rest of the regular iraqi army is roughly equal in combat readiness to . National guard troops. Nevertheless the iraqi army demonstrated a tenacious capability to defend its own territory during the eight year War with Iran. A iraqi military commanders a much like their american counterparts a Are keeping Many of their units highly Mobile rather than allowing them to d in into stationary positions in an Effort to give them More flexibility in the event of combat. A 4 a Fig it a 1 Vav r a a it Quot. A t. Marines exercise on the flight deck of the Carrier Independence in the Gulf. Military officials said they Are beginning to see signs of trouble a Quot hairline cracks Quot a confronting the iraqi military apparatus. Intelligence sources indicated that food is late in reaching the troops and that pay is slow to arrive. One official cautioned that the Impact on iraqi forces of such apparent problems is Quot hard to  the iraqi military has installed stationary and Mobile scud a missiles across syrian commandos training at their position in Haf aral Baton saudi Arabia Eastern and Central Kuwait. While american official express Confidence that they know the locations of All the stationary scud launchers military officials say the iraqis play a constant game of hide and Sec with the Mobile launchers. Quot the scud is primarily a psychological weapon Quot said a general officer commanding . Forces at Dhahran. Quot it is not an accurate weapon but the fact to lat you could fire it and it would land somewhere in a City killing innocent civilians makes it a More of a psychological  some military officials at Dhahran said they believe that some scuds would Likely evade . Air defences. On the saudi Side of the Border to 10 combined Arab and Western forces have divided the Eastern province and some other areas of the country into Large sectors of responsibility with saudi and other Arab forces operating in zones immediately adjacent to the kuwaiti Border. The first Large units of american troops a marines and the army a 24 the inf div Mech a Are located about 50 Miles from the Border defending important ports and Oil refineries. A we would like to be operating farther North closer to the Border area a said an american commander. The United states expects almost 200,000 military personnel to be in place within the next two months. In addition to attack planes and fighter jets Britain has committed its 6,000-member Quot desert rat Quot armoured brigade. The saudi military has about 65,000 Active duty troops and is urgently recruiting men for its guard and Reserve units. Egypt has said it could Send up to 30,000 troops to saudi Arabia and the syrian government is planning to dispatch about 18,000 troops. Although the buildup inside saudi Arabia remains almost two months away from completion enough air sea and land forces have arrived to significantly erode the overwhelming and undisputed military advantage Iraq held in the Days following continued on Page 14 wednesday september 26, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 13