European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 12, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday. December t 2. 1990 the stars and stripes Pago 3 crisis in the Gull u a. Strategy relentless Force crucial to full scale attack on Iraq. A Quot by Rick Atkinson and Georgec. Wilson Washington Post if Lorca becomes necessary to eject Iraq from Kuwait a full scale ground War would become the can to piece of the Bush administration s military strafe by sources say. Such a strategy would reject relying solely on Surgi. Cal air strikes massive carpet bombing and Othera Nice tidy allegedly Low Cost incremental May work a options that Are floated around with great regularity my Over this town Quot said Gen Colin l. Powell chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Instead Powell and other senior officials said the administration regards a violent bloody Overland War a possibly involving the greatest tank Battle in the history of warfare a As the Only certain Means of destroying iraqis army or forcing it to Retreat. ,. Winning a combined air and land War presumes that . Airpower would control the skies from the first Day and would continue  iraqi Strong Points and communication centers Day after Day. It also presumes that fast moving . Forces guided by up to the minute intelligence on enemy deployments would have the advantage of Surprise attack  dug in iraqi forces would remain comparatively immobile and unable to Patch holes that Allied forces punch in their defences. Testifying before the Senate armed services committee last week Powell spoke of a strategy a that uses Pur strengths against their vulnerabilities and avoids their strengths a a. ,. A a a . Strengths include vastly Superior night fighting capability Superior intelligence gathering Anil Elee tronic warfare skills a highly Mobile Force and virtually certain Dominion Over the skies acid seas. Although Iraq has strength in numbers with about 500,000 troops in and around Kuwait about two thirds Are relatively immobile lightly armed infantrymen. By adding an additional 250,000 soldiers to his of proc Saddam will reap diminishing returns by taxing his logistical lines weakening his Borders elsewhere and providing Only a modest increase in firepower . Planners believe. According to military officials the plans for fighting Iraq arc almost certain to include these phases phase one unmanned Navy Tomahawk cruise missiles and about 40 air Force Al 17 stealth fighters would target the iraqi air Force s command and control network in order to deny iraqi pilots radio guidance from ground controllers tracking us. Planes scores of air Force full fighter bombers based in Turkey and Carrier based Navy a-6 intruder attack bombers would follow by firing missiles that destroy radar antennas by homing in on iraqi radar signals. Air Force  Eagle and f-i6 Falcon fighters guided by Azacs airborne warning and controls system aircraft and Navy f-14 tomcats and Fa-18 hornets guided by Azacs or the e-2c Hawkeye would try to sweep the sky of iraqi planes while , bomber.? strike virtually every air Field in Kuwait and Iraq that could be used by iraqi warplanes the bombers will try to destroy enemy planes Stii on the ground and carve such Large holes in the runways that. Planes hidden in hardened bunkers cannot take off. Water. V a l a a. A electronic warfare planes arid other High tech jamming gear would try to disconnect. Iraqis top commanders from Forward units. This vision of the opening phase of the War hinges on tactical Surprise that immediately gives . Forces the initiative planners continue to fret Over a preemptive a spoiling a attack by Saddam. A there goes the neatness of our operation a a Pentagon official said this week a if he rests the initiative from  Saddam also has mined kuwaiti Oil Fields and wellhead according to retired adm. William j. Crowe former chairman of the joint chiefs so any attack would Likely trigger the widespread destruction of Kuwait a principal Industry. A phase two with the iraqi air Force largely destroyed the ground War would begin in Earnest. Army units and. Marines offshore would try to confuse iraqi defenders possible . Battle strategy phase one us. Missiles fighters and bombers attack iraqi airfields  network. Phase two ef526 be Girt intensified bombing of artillery bases and up pay roads. , soldiers begin to storm iraqi defense positions. Phase three Send armoured fighting vehicles try to push through Iraq s defensive triangles. See diagram iraqi triangular defensive position mortars amp artillery machine Foxholes \ gup barbed wire a a a a. Minefield anti tank ditches filled with blazing fuel Oil a. A. 5&s Susan Harris with Finis deceptions and continued electronic Jam. Ming. V Quot Saddam a essentially has tried to barricade the whole country of Kuwait on two sides the East and sixth. He has bought himself a huge logistical Bur Dena Pentagon planner said a the has to be Strong everywhere a air Force b-52s would drop hundreds of tons of munitions on iraqi artillery bases command posts and Supply roads now based at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean the bombers would my pc to an Airfield nearer the front according to air Force sources. Unlike Vietnam where heavy Jungle hid enemy strongholds and Supply lines the desert of Kuwait arid Iraq offers Little cover. A. A a the b-52s could also be used to obliterate iraqi nuclear chemical and biological weapons plants. But such attacks would Likely kill hundreds of civilians and it is unclear whether fish would authorise destruction if these facilities. Smaller air Force and Navy bombers would strike Barracks Bridges motor pools and tank formations. To exploit these air strikes w bile enemy forces Are still a stunned and disoriented a . Doctrine Calls for q closely coordinated ground attack to follow the bombers almost immediately. As . Troops Rush for Wurcel Jove level air attacks by a it thunderbolts and Apache helicopters would be launched against iraqi Armor and soviet made infantry vehicles. A t to prevent Iraq from reinforcing the areas threatened by . Spearheads a a we re placing a great Premium on restricting their mobility a largely by keeping enough warplanes overhead to annihilate enemy forces that emerge from reinforced bunkers the officer added., . Analysts studying iraqis eight year War against Iran also believe that iraqi army units Lack the Independence and initiative to operate effectively without precise direction from regimental leaders so Penta Gori planners want to isolate iraqi units from their regimental commanders in Hopes of provoking mass surrenders or at least feeble fighting. Phase three no matter How much the air Force and Navy bomb army leaders warn that it would eventually come Down to Soldier against Soldier before the iraqi army could he footed out of heavily fortified positions in Kuwait . Planners have basically scrapped the traditional 3-to-l attacker to deter Der ratio Long considered necessary to overcome fortified positions . Mobil Ltd air strength firepower arid other advantages provide Quot Force. Multipliers a that compensate Tor raw numbers they said. Powell said last week that a by pushing for a com by cd air land sea Campaign we Are not adopting a strategy of Cannon fodder where we Are just going to run into fortifications without thinking our Way through  nevertheless Saddam a buildup in the desert West of Kuwait Means the . Armoured Force cannot simply outflank the iraqi army and envelop Kuwait. Quot we would have to puncture Iris fortifications someplace. A one officer said. I lie typical iraqi defensive position in Kuwait is Laid out in a Triangle. A fortified firing position with. Machine guns sits at each Corner of the Triangle. In Tan Brynien Are stationed Between these Corner Strong Points in protected Foxholes. The rear Corner of the Triangle is armed with mortars Yuul artillery batteries that tire Over the Heads of the front line defenders. I  Are dug in to the Side of the Corner Strong Points facing the invaders. These triangular Idris Are protected along the fron of l a Lapp Roaches by barbed wire hundreds of mines and deep anti tank ditches that can be filled with fuel Oil and set ablaze. One Standard tactic for breaching these fortifications is a High Speed night attack using tanks rocket equipped vehicles Quot arid Bradley fighting vehicles filled with infantrymen. With my tanks firming the spearhead the attack ing column would fire rockets and shells to confuse Blind and kill the heavy weapons operators in lie rear of the Triangle. At least two  would swing away from the attacking column to Duel the Iraq tanks flanking the Triangle. A t another my with a heavy roller attached to its front end would rumble toward the Center of the Triangle. Designed to trigger mines the roller would soon be twisted out of shape and other a is with rollers would follow to finish Clearing a pathway to the Edge of the ditch. There in my with a plow would fill Iri the ditch making a Road leading into the heart of the Triangle. A a weapon that resembles thick rope with explosives hanging along it would then he fire Fout of a barrel a called a mine Clearing line charge the rope of explosives would extend out along and beyond the path Way made by them a tanks. The explosives would set off mines beyond those detonated by them a mine rollers a a a a a Quot Quot. 1 next my tanks would race along the mine free path and smash into lie rear fortification. Bradley vehicles would Rush along the path behind the tanks to Weir machine guns spraying the ditches. Infantrymen would jump out of the Bradley and fire away at surviving enemy soldiers highly dangerous work where Numy attackers almost certainly would be killed or wounded a t1 a a a i a a a once the triangular defense was breached and destroyed them a tanks would push All the Way through the fortification and race off to attack the Reserve Force of tanks and enemy soldiers far to the rear of the Triangle. The Bradley would follow the tanks. Fortifications bracketing the one breached would be left alone until the Reserve forces in the rear had been destroyed a tactic intended to sever the Otler Forward triangles from the support of heavy guns armoured Reinhar elements and senior commanders. Where the . Offensive drive would go is under Tain. Some analysts believe that driving to Baghdad would be More effective than Engvelt Ping Kuwait in hers said that alter destroying the elite Republican guards forces being held in Reserve North of Kuwait american troops could strangle iraqi Force in Kuwait by cutting off their food and fuel. Still others particularly army officers be i i event will be necessary As one said a to go in and dig them out.�?�. A a a. A a a a. Putian saudi and syrian armoured forces would be used to hem in iraqi troop concentrations while faster . Forces would race around flanks acid Lake up blocking positions to chop he iraqi army into Vul Anerable chunks to Many Points