European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 9, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday february 9, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 7 War in the . Helped build Iraq War machine Washington apr in the six years before Iraq invaded Kuwait the Commerce department approved exports to Iraq of si.5 billion in equipment with potential military uses according to congressional sources. A some of the licenses involved exports directly to iraqis ministry of defense to the iraqi atomic Energy commission and to Saad 16, a ballistic missile research facility in i r a a a  o r d in g t o t h e so u r c e a w h o r e que e s t e d a n o by m i t v. The. Sources said that from .1985 through 1990, the Commerce department approved applications from 750 companies for $1.5 billion Worth of dual use exports to Iraq. A dual use License is one for equipment or material which can be used either for peaceful or military purposes. A partial listing of the licenses obtained this week Dod rejects Gulf waiver for go parents Washington up the defense department has turned Down efforts to pull married couples with children and single parents out of the persian Gulf War zone saying it would undermine the troops. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Gen. Colin pow Ell chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said thursday. To it of the fighting Force. It would be a a serious mistake to change tie makeup shows that the exports included emulsion explosives pm Clear Power equipment lasers computer equipment air Quot Craft supplies and chemicals. A a a neither the administration nor Congress has disclosed the exact nature of the fun list of exports. Hut Ted Jacobs chief counsel for the House subcommittee on Commerce consumer and monetary affairs last year said the licenses included approval for More than. 20 shipments of biological agents to the iraqi atomic Energy commission. The. Subcommittee asked Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher last fall to make Public information on . Exports tit at might have gone into Iraq s Arsenal of chemical nuclear and biological weapons the department gave the information to the subcommittee under subpoena but refused to make the information Public citing a Law that prohibits the release of proprietary business information unless tie Secretary of Commerce finds that to be in the National interest. That Law allows a congressional committee to make such information Public it it determines that would be in lie National interest. Hie subcommittee chairman rep. Doug , d-ga., has not scheduled a vote on the Issue. A a. A Hai Nard declined 1 liar Day to discuss the iraqi Export License Issue. His a press Secretary Steve Cohen said it would probably be 45 to 60 Davs before Harvard made a  whether to press Lor release of the information a. A a a. A in a joint letter Cheney and Powell said withdrawing the a two groups a would weaken our combat capability by removing key personnel from our deployed units and by undermining unit cohesion and Esprit de  a it would Al break Faith with our single parents and military couples and their comrades who depend on them every Day a they wrote. A. Although the Pentagon does not yet have the number of married couples and single parents in operation desert storm there Are 54,021 couples 37,267 single men parents and 17,836 single women parents in a total . Force of 2.1 million. The Pentagon did not have a breakdown on How Many couples have children. The letter was requested by Senate leaders after the Issue was raised during a private briefing. Sen. John Heinz r-pa., said the Pentagon should review its regu Latsons in this area. Heinz said that Powell recognized a review was needed a because he did not want a and i quote him More or less directly a a a married couple with children in the same foxhole a because he is very sensitive to the idea of both parents being  but in their letter Cheney and Powell were explicit in their opposition to any change in the current policy that has sent married couples and single parents into the War theater. A  a we understand and appreciate your concern a the letter stated. A we share that concern not Only for our single parents and military couples but for every member of our armed forces who is serving in operation desert storm. We urge you however not to allow that concern to Lead you and your fellow senators to Call for a policy that in our View would be both unwarranted and  Cheney and Powell said the a military is a profession a of arms and that All service members Are volunteers. A they understand when they1 volunteered to serve they freely assumed the duty and obligation to place themselves in harms Way when called upon to do so a Cheney and Powell said. A that shared obligation is crucial to unit cohesion that is the foundation of our combat capability. That understanding and obligation is held equally by the single parents and military couples now serving around the world including in the desert storm  the Pentagon leaders said married couples and single parents served in Korea and Europe where the threat of a sudden and lethal combat was very real As Well As in the invasions of Grenada and Panama. They said defense department Poliey requires single parents and couples with children to maintain a family a care plan to ensure that their children Are cared for if they Are deployed a that policy is working Well a Cheney and Powell said. A your single parents and military couples across the Board have been meeting their obligations both As it. Members of the military and As parents a Down time air Force staff sgt. Louis Siano relaxes atop some ammunition boxes and reads a Magazine. Siano a Crew Ltd a a chief for f-i5 eagles is taking a break Between flight operations at an air base in saudi Arabia. Body count of iraqi soldiers a a. A a. A a. 1 a a. 4. A. Ruled out by Schwarzkopf Riyadh saudi Arabia apr facing an edict from their commander that there will be no Vietnam style a body county in a Gulf ground War . Officers will use wrecked tanks guns and helicopters to measure the course of Battle against the iraqis. The ban on a a body county of enemy dead has been spelled out in unmistakable terms by Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf commander of the 500,000-Strong . Forces preparing for a possible invasion of Kuwait. On several recent occasions the 56-year-old general recalled his experience in Vietnam where he saw us. Commanders pressured into showing results by inflating or falsifying the numbers of enemy dead. Nevertheless some officers question privately whether this impersonal approach is appropriate. In any Case they believe counting of enemy dead will unavoidably become common practice by units doing the fighting. A a it Sall very Well to talk about killing tanks and killing pcs a but if you re going to do that you might As Well try Tafi Gure out How Many people were also killed a f said a Headquarters officer. The que e Storro How to report Cas a it Ieso n-1 he a Hiedl Side is also troubling military officials who Are deeply concerned about the so called a body bag Issue a the spectacle of Large numbers of dead americans arriving in the United states. A recent query to the . Central come seeking a definition of a Light moderate and heavy casualties elicited the response that this method of reporting losses used in Vietnam is no longer accepted by the military. . Officers said thursday they were still waiting for the Pentagon to say How . Battle casualties would be reported on a daily basis by numbers or by some far less precise method such As the effect of personnel losses on the unit involved. In the Only ground action so far to inflict . Casualties the command gave a precise figure of 11 marines killed and went even further to say seven were by a Friendly  a a Schwarzkopf first raised the body count Issue in a Jan. 18 news briefing saying he had a no. Ideas what iraqis Battlefield casualties were and adding a if 1 have anything to say about it we re not going to get into the body count business. That a nothing More than rough wild estimates and its ridiculous to do  a after several later statements in which he again condemned the practice Schwarzkopf said in a recent interview that some people might think Vietnam where he served As a military adviser and battalion commander left him a a obsessed with the subject. Buhhsn�?Tt-v4ctnaro,its-what-1 he body count Dies to a military organization. It contributed to erosion in the military and in the Public a Confidence in the military a in response to a query from the associated press . Central come Headquarters issued a statement explaining that iraqi Battle losses would be measured in terms of diminished War fighting capability but not in the numbers of dead