European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday november 1, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Gulf briefs no trick scouts treats will go to Gulf troops Raf Chicksands England a amps a trick a or a treating got a new twist at this Small communications base this year As youngsters went door to door soliciting items for operation desert shield troops. About 45 volunteers including troops 114 and 64 of the girl scouts canvassed the base housing area tuesday evening asking for items like skin lotion lip Balm batteries canned and baked goods sunglasses and Reading material. The shipment of 48 boxes will be the third shipment of donated items from Chicksands sent to the troops said autumn Standley the president of the bases enlisted wives club which sponsored the event. A it is by no Means the last project a Standley  boxes destined for various troops included letters from the girl scouts she  group protests . Buildup in Gulf Stuttgart Germany a amps a protesters objecting to the . Military buildup in the persian Gulf staged a demonstration wednesday in front of the . Consulate in Stuttgart. Most of the 28 participants were members of the peace group Ohne Rii stung Leben live without armament said protester Volker Nick. Carrying anti War posters and distributing fliers the group began its sit Down demonstration at 11 30 . On the pedestrian mall in front of the consulate. Two German policemen arrive about 40 minutes later and told the protesters they would have to leave the mall because it is a Security zone. The group at first refused then dispersed without incident at 12 30 As they had  army deserters seek Asylum in Turkey Ankara Turkey apr about 70 iraqi army deserters have crossed into Turkey and Are being kept in special Camps near the Border the dependent Istanbul daily Hurr yet reported government officials confirmed that iraqi deserters had sought Asylum but declined to disclose numbers or any other details. Hurr yet quoting local officials from the Border townships Spirnak and Hakkari said the soldiers told officials that the iraqi army was tired of fighting after eight years of War with Iran. There Are hundreds of other soldiers who want to flee but those caught trying to Cross the Border Are executed on the spot the report quoted the deserters As  were officers among the deserters and 15 of them have been sent to the capital of Ankara Hurr yet said. Vietnam combat Veteran sees similarities in Gulf by Vince Crawley staff writer. With the 1st Cav div saudi Arabia command sgt. Maj. Robert Wilson has been Here before. Not to saudi Arabia but to a place he says was not much different Vietnam in 1965. That was the year of the first big . Buildup when thousands of american soldiers were air and sea lifted to Southeast Asia a and when Public support was still Gung to for the . Effort there. Wilson went in As a scout Section sergeant with the 1st Cav div and a got kind of shot up in the Battle of la Drang. Wilson said it was the first time an american division went against a North vietnamese division. Now a Quarter Century later he a the top enlisted member in the same unit. A a there a Good there a bad there a ugly a Wilson tells soldiers who ask him about combat. A and you be just got to be Able to Deal with it. Combat is not fun. Its serious  his troopers understand that he said. Soldiers both officers and enlisted members listen to Wilson. Because he a been there. After la Drang he went to officer candidate school and returned to combat in 1969, this time As a company commander. He held staff officer jobs through the Early �?T70s. Then during the Post Vietnam draw Down he was told to choose Between getting out or becoming a sergeant again. A i had a lot of soldiers a friends a that decided to get  but sgt. 1st class Wilson stayed. The 48-year-old Soldier sees Many parallels Between 1965 and 1990. �?oin�?T65�?T we were formed up for the 1st Cav air assault division and essentially Given 60 Days to train and deploy a he said. This years deployment to saudi Arabia was almost a Carbon copy except that the lighter division of the �?T60s took Only seven ships to haul it. This tune around it took 16 vessels. A this division moved in to saudi Arabia essentially the same As Vietnam a he said. A moved into an area and established a  now members Are training and waiting for further orders. Again he said the training and waiting Are a essentially the  the difference Between today and yesterday of course is that War Hasni to broken out. The army a Best ammunition against the waiting War of nerves is squelching rumours and keeping troops informed said Wilson who a originally from Bedford a. The individual Soldier is very apprehensive because of All the  yen. You walk up to a 1st Cav trooper and ask a going on a Wilson says that the Correct answer is Liis morning my sergeant told me. A this is called putting out the word and the word includes a daily report of what kind of training to expect what the command is up to and the latest news gleaned from an and bbl radio news. As with most units Wilson a troops spent several weeks at ports waiting for their ships to come in then moved to desert positions. Wilson said desert life is purer than the distracting tedium at dockside. A there Are less rumours a he said. Soldiers Are a in command of their own turf. They done to have to share it with other soldiers from other  they re also learning about the desert which resembles the Flat no Many a land and High mesas near their Home station at fort Hood Texas. A a a we re teaching sol Diers How to navigate in this vast desert a he said a so they feel comfortable moving from Point a to Point b and  however they Arentt training to be heroes. A your Mach ism does not go Over on your Soldier of la Day a Wilson said. A the can see through the smoke and mirrors and Wilson see to the True leadership. Many who remember the Vietnam Era Are saying that operation desert shield is different because the people Back Home Are so enthusiastic about it. But Wilson takes fickle Public opinion with a Grain of Sand. A i think the Public a approval is always very important to the american Soldier and the United states army a said Wilson whose most recent european tour was with the 2nd army Cav regt in Niernberg Germany. A but i always say the United states army will do whatever the leadership asks us to do. At any  still he said the Public does seem to be supporting persian Gulf forces More than it did troops in Vietnam even m the Early Days. A Back then he said they never got so Many letters from entire elementary classes. Never got Hometown newspapers from Little towns in Tennessee and other places such As Philadelphia a a sent to people who Are not even from  Wilson also has one More Vietnam Era memory that son his mind. It involves an old joke a not heard so often anymore a about the 1st Cav dives shoulder Patch. Only the divisions combat veterans Are allowed to Teri it. It has to do with a horse that was never Ridden a River that was never crossed and the shoulder patches color a yellow a that is said to be self explanatory. In fact its not even much of a joke. Men from the 1st Cav which saw some of the toughest fighting in Vietnam and Cambodia Tell it so that people wont think they re heroes. Wilson is one of those allowed to Tell it. A Drang he said spelling it out for someone who d never heard of the place. A two words you la never forget a another listener asked. A two words a lot of people will never  he left the impression that he Hopes his troopers memories of saudi Arabia when they leave will be less vivid. Iraqi firms in Europe linked to spies terrorists by Ferdinand Protzman. By Ferdinand Protzman Bonn Germany not a iraqis intelligence service is operating a network of outwardly legitimate businesses across Western Europe a former senior West German intelligence official says. The companies mostly Export import companies and used car dealerships Are also working to circumvent the . Trade embargo against Iraq said Hans Josef Horchem. Horchem a former director of West Germany a Domestic intelligence service who now runs the Institute for terrorism research near Bonn said he based his assertions on information from officials in German and foreign intelligence Agen c1cs� he said the network of roughly 10 main companies is under the direct command of the iraqi secret service and is closely linked to the popular front for the liberation of Palestine general command. The popular front is suspected of planting the bomb that destroyed pan am flight 103 Over Lockerbie Scotland in december 1988, killing 270 people. Horchem said there were three iraqi front companies in Germany and that they were operating in Hamburg and the state of Hessen. He declined to identify them and said no action has been taken against them because of insufficient evidence. Other companies Are operating in France and Britain he added. German government officials confirmed that the matter was being investigated. A there is information coming out of special sources that is being checked on a said Roland Bachmeier the spokesman for the German Interior ministry. He declined to comment further. . Embassy officials also declined to comment. The businesses Are staffed by iraqi secret service personnel and some also employ members of the popular front Horchem said. He said the companies were prepared to launch terrorist attacks should the situation in the persian Gulf shift against Iraq. A they Are chained bloodhounds waiting for orders from Saddam Hussein to set them into action a he said. A when people Fly in the companies give them a base providing an apartment weapons and explosives and a number they can Call so they do not have to bring in weapons themselves. This also is the Case elsewhere in  a spokesman for the iraqi embassy in Bonn dismissed the claim. A it is just some statement that is popping up now and that will also pop up in the future a he said. Suggestions that Iraq had built an extensive european network to obtain arms and weapons related technology emerged publicly last Spring when British officials seized forged steel tubes saying they were meant for use in the construction of an iraqi a super  the investigation uncovered a network of legitimate european companies directly or partly owned by a group called the Al Arabi trading co. Of Baghdad Iraq. German Industry has been deeply involved in supplying Iraq with weapons related technologies. In a secret briefing for the German parliaments committee on economic affairs economics minister Helmut Haussmann recently listed five areas in which German companies have been involved in supplying Industrial plants technology or expertise to Iraq. A member of the committee said Haussmann mentioned the Supply of forging plants to build cannons the involvement of German companies in the development of the a super gun a the Supply of missile technology the modernization of soviet missiles already in iraqis Arsenal and the Supply of technology needed for use in nuclear arms production. A the left out in his statement All the stuff about chemical plants Poison Gas and the weapons exports Over third countries like France a the committee member said