European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 6, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 a the stars and stripes wednesday february 6,1991war in the Gulf Content to bide Tim emission against lives makes general agonize by rav. Apple or. The new York times Riyadh saudi Arabia a Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf the american commander in the persian Gulf said monday he doubts the allies can Ever undermine the determination of iraqi president Saddam Hussein to keep fighting. But he added that he believes the will of the iraqi army can be broken and that his forces Are a making great Progress in that  in a relaxed interview in Riyadh with a half dozen american correspondents the general talked for More than two hours assessing his foes explaining How he will decide when to recommend a ground assault on iraqi troops in Kuwait and defending his command against charges it has caused widespread civilian casualties. He also discussed his own reactions to War. A a a a. A. V a a a a a a a a a asked whether iraqi forces were starting to fall apart Schwarzkopf replied a a there a been a lot of speculation that cracks Are starting to appear. That a probably the Case but i would hate to try to define How big the cracks Are How critical the cracks Are what the result will  the 56-year-old general challenged reports from the Battle of Khanji last week that mentioned fierce resistance by iraqi troops. A what we have heard is that any time a significant amount of fire was  Bear on anyplace where the iraqis were they began to give up a he said. A i done to think their military is holding up very Well a Schwarzkopf declared. A he added that Saddam strikes him As a Man who takes a a a very rudimentary tactical approach to warfare a always seeking a a head on head eyeball to eyeball nose to nose slug est a eschewing finesse and insisting on far More Central control than is militarily effective. A a a a a a a. A. A Saddam Hussein is sort of like Goliath a Schwarzkopf said a out there storming around in front of our troops and saying a come on out Here and fight  a despite that Schwarzkopf insisted he is _ determined to take his time before ordering a ground attack. Asked whether he is constrained by the approach of hot weather and by the islamic religious observances of Ramadan in March he replied a i feel no hot breath Down my neck. All of those things Are y important obviously and we re taking All of them into consideration. But the one thing that a More important than anything else is that we accomplish. Our objectives with a minimum loss of human  his worst moments he said come a when you recognize human lives Are involved in decisions you. Make.�?�. A a a a a i agonize i agonize Quot he said. �?o1 Wake up 15, 20 Quot times in the night. My brains just in turmoil Over those decisions. I get enough sleep but 1 done to get very much rest. My Nightmare is anything that would cause mass casualties among my troops. I done to want my troops to die. 1 done to want my troops to be  Schwarzkopf readily conceded however that in the event of a ground War Poison Gas would Likely be used against front line Allied forces. Air attacks he said could nver destroy Saddam a huge stocks of chemical agents because the locations of Many Are not know n. A was much As we All hate the thought of chemical weapons they Are not so terrible that it makes the enemy absolutely invincible if he uses them a the longtime infantry officer said. A look at the example of the Iran Iraq War. They used chemicals against the iranians and the iranians weren to anywhere near As w Ell equipped As we Are and yet the iranians  mow w ill he make up his mind then that the air my Nightmare is anything that would cause mass casualties among my troops Don t want my troops to die. I Don t want my troops to be maimed Quot a Gen Schwarzkopf Warha done its Job of wearing Down the iraqis fighting ability it is a momentous question for the general a opinion a to be conveyed to the White House by defense Secretary Dick Cheney a is expected to carry great weight with president Bush who will make the final decision. A it will be partly intuitive a Schwarzkopf replied. A it has to be because you done to have perfect knowledge of the enemy. It will be a compendium of actual results measurable results estimated results anecdotal reports and gut feel and you kind of put All of that together and suddenly you la say a by Golly it looks like right about now. A a what you re really looking for is a measure of the effectiveness of the military organization you have to fight. Its not a numbers  seeking to explain the fateful decision he faces Schwarzkopf said a Hilt on which 100 enemy troops were dug in could be taken by sending infantrymen up its slopes to certain death one by one until the enemy a ammunition was exhausted or it could be levelled by firing artillery at its Crest for month after month. A but obviously a he said a the Best Way to accomplish your Mission lies someplace Between the two extremes. That a what we re dealing w Ith Here. It s a question of accomplishing the Mission w Ith a minimum loss of human life and in an effective time period. Therein lies the military  a tall powerfully built Man who clearly loves to talk and Tell tales Schwarzkopf underlined some of his Points by recalling movie scenes. A Case in Point was his Sharp reaction to suggestions the United state skin bombing Iraq itself so relentlessly was exceeding its . Mandate to evict Baghdad a forces from Kuwait. A a it a a contorted morality that says that because the iraqis Are the Guys in the Blacks hats they re allowed to go out and do anything they want to do a Schwarzkopf argued. A they can Gas innocent women and children they can loft scuds against civilian populations they can use human Shields a All of those things Are of for them. But because we re the Guys in White hats we have to stand up allow ourselves to be shot take on overwhelming numbers and not use the weapons that we have available. I just done to understand that  with considerable passion Schwarzkopf insisted his pilots were a not not not not bombing civilian targets despite iraqi claims to the contrary. While he did not deny errors have been made he said that whal he called extraordinary precautions have been taken involving not Only the selection of aircraft and types of bombs but even the direction of the by Mherl a approach Leo targets. A i would never Tell you that we have 100 percent Assurance that 100 percent of All the targets we re hitting Are exactly what we think they Are a he conceded later. A a warfare is not that precise a business.�?�. But he said the factory the american command identified As a biological warfare installation and the iraqis described As a baby formula Plant was surrounded by a a High military Fence with guard posts at each Corner. He said it also had a military. A Barracks just behind it and had been painted with camouflage paint in december. A number of iraqi Headquarters have been moved into what appear to be. School buildings Schwarzkopf reported. Asked whether he now Felt free to bomb them he replied a we Are a moral ethical people and therefore we re not going to do business that Way. Yes sure it gives them an advantage but we Are not going to reduce ourselves to that level of immoral conduct just to even the score a _ _ when he was Young Schwarzkopf said he admired Alexander the great because a the did everything his troops could do and he did it  but now he said his heroes Are two civil War generals Ulysses s. Grant and William Tecumsch Sherman and one from the Vietnam Era Creighton a Abrams who succeeded William c. Westmoreland in command there. Why a number one they re All Muddy Boot soldiers a Schwarzkopf answered. Quot number two i feel like Nom of them Ever worried about who got the credit a they just worried about getting the Job done. Number three 1 think All of them probably a intensely hated War and yet at the same time when they had to. Waged War ferociously. They did no Tennov doing it. R a i guess that a probably More important than anything else a he continued a if anyone thinks this is an enjoyable experience they re dead wrong dead wrong. I be known a lot of generals who were War lovers. They scare the living hell out of me and they re Aiso not very Good generals not by my measure. Custer loved War and look at what he  finally he said his three heroes a were Ordinary. They never considered themselves extraordinary. They never i Don t think considered themselves particularly dashing and half Dottie and romantic in their uniforms.�?�. The toughest thing in his life Schwarzkopf said was his discovery on his return in 1969 from a second tour of duty in Vietnam that the american people had turned against the War and against the armed services. A we All do our jobs based on past experiences a he said. A we learn As much from negative As from positive experiences. Obviously Vietnam was a big experience for me. But its not Correct that in a obsessed by  \