European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 a a a the stars and stripes wednesday february 13,1991 War in the Gulf a Cju a so ssh a iraqi soldiers escape through minefield at the kuwaiti Border a eight iraqi soldiers deserted tuesday after crawling through a minefield and ignoring an iraqi sentry a order to turn Back. Although Saddam Hussein has threatened to execute soldiers who quit his army the sentry held his fire and the deserters made their harrowing escape. The eight deserters and two other iraqi soldiers who reached this Border Post 30 minutes later surrendered to members of an egyptian armoured division. Egyptian officers with other units say deserters have told them iraqi sentries have shot and killed soldiers trying to flee arid that other iraqis were killed by mines. The 10 iraqi deserters said tuesday that even seasoned veterans arc fleeing Saddam a army because of the Day and night Allied bombing shortages of food and equipment and weariness with the persian Gulf War. A a. American saudi and egyptian officers at the front say desertions Are becoming a daily routine at the tense fortified saudi sergeants sat on a Blanket in the Sand Wonjang Down bread while egyptian sol turd iraqis is less than 1,5.00 a tiny Poy sat next  them  j18 1 c Tion of iraqis million Man army and the Vlf a is soviet made Kalashnikov Border with iraqi occupied Kuwait. Still the number of deserters and Cap sire to do Battle again. A fighting fighting fighting and a. 500,000-Pliis Force in the kuwaiti theater. Saad Shab 29, a 10-year Veteran and a member of a unit that includes soviet built t-55 tanks said he fought in iraqis 1980-1988 War with Iran and had  _ fighting fighting and for what Quot nothing the deserter said. Shab told How he and seven other soldiers made their Way through a minefield despite the sentry a order and said iraqi mines Are visible to those travelling on foot. He also confirmed there Are Large trenches filled with Oil that could be set ablaze to thwart an Allied ground assault. Most deserters Are heading North to their Homes in Iraq the iraqis said adding that desertions Are even occurring among the Republican guard iraqis Best trained troops. The of iraqi deserters a a most of them the iraqis Green uniforms looked clean and new. They appeared relaxed and in Good health but they said thai meals had been Cut to one Sandwich a Day. A they said Thuv were relieved to be away from the fighting and would want to return to Iraq if Saddam were ousted. All except Shab said they were afraid to give their names because they feared for their families. Shab was the Only deserter who spoke English. He and an egyptian translated Tor the others. Most of those who arrived with Shab said they fought in the Iran Iraq War. Thetra is said parts and fuel Are scarce at the front and most vehicles arc out of commission because ne4rly.ah fuel is rationed for tanks. They say they have listened to British and French radio broadcasts in arabic and do not by love in the War. The deserters said they were the first tier of iraqi defences and that most of the Allied bombing had concentrated on the larger second tier they said the word among the men we that 20,000 iraqi soldiers have died in the Allied bombing. They said 50 percent of front line units have deserted. However a . Army intelligence officer said such figures can be unreliable As deserters have a tendency to exaggerate their numbers. Allied officers say about 1,000. Iraqis. Have deserted since the War began Jan. 17 there has been a significant increase in the number of deserters m recent Days saudi egyptian and american officers said it is now common for groups of five to 10 deserters to surrender. The egyptian officers said four iraqis surrendered monday but none the previous Days. Egyptian army capt Ibriham homed said several officers have defected in the past week including a colonel. Tie said that based on discussions with deserters More senior officers expected to surrender wednesday. Are court martial cases far fewer for gis in Gulf than elsewhere by Joseph Owen Middle East Bureau Riyadh saudi Arabia a court Nvart Ial rates for . Forces in the persian Gulf Region arc Only a fraction of those for service Mcthers worldwide an army Legal official says. And the More serious the category of court martial the less often it is Likely to occur in saudi Arabia Cony lice themselves he said. A i think the Force today is More educated More professional and would Lead me to believe that that peer pressure not Only exists but has a been intensified in a positive Way a a Ruppert explained. For other reasons however the court martial rates May be artificially Low. Some commanders Are less Likely to take disciplinary action against troops who step out of line in Small ways or May Send troops out of the theater pared with other locations where . Forces Are stationed said army col. Raymond c. Ruppert the . Central come staff judge advocate. A general court martial is the trial forum for the most serious kinds of charges. The rate of general courts martial for the first six months of . Deployment in the persian Gulf was 0.3 per 10,000 troops Ruppert a said a the general court martial rate worldwide for the 1989 fiscal year the most recent year for which com Pletsc data Are available was 15.7 per 10,000. Special courts martial one category for less grievous offences occurred at a rate of 1.18 per 10,000 in six months of operations desert shield and desert storm. Ruppert said that because so few trials have occurred he has been unable to observe any crime patterns. He said the longest sentence issued in the theater to his knowledge was a six year term Given to a Sailor for drug related offences. A he attributed the Low trial rate to several causes notably that troops Are under around the clock supervision by their commanders. A a it a not a Garrison situation where the Soldier is performing his duties eight or 12 hours a Day arid then leaves and goes Home a he said. Another reason is that troops Are doing what they Are trained to do he said. A that ought to make for a More motivated Soldier a Ruppert said. Also the distractions Are fewer. A there Are no bars. There Are no women of ill repute. The temptations to get involved in something that could Lead to a lessening of ones Good judgment leading then into some misconduct is diminished dramatically a  said. Finally the forces Are More inclined than Ever to to to be tried. A a it a a Mark of shame to be eliminated from this Campaign a said one air Force unit commander. The . Forces have More Legal jurisdiction Over their troops in saudi Arabia than they do in some other countries. A we have an agreement with the saudis where the saudis anticipate and expect sap discipline our own. Forces a Ruppert  refused to discuss what jurisdictional arrangements if any . Officials have made with other arabian Peninsula governments on whose territory american troops Are stationed. The British forces also have Arr agreement with saudi Arabia granting them Legal jurisdiction Over their own troops the forces said in a written response to a query. The British have similar understandings with a other Middle Eastern countries. France too reserves the right to try offenders in its forces in saudi Arabia a French official said. A Canada concluded a status of forces agreement on Jan. 16 with Bahrain that is similar to the one governing governs Canadian military jurisdiction Over its troops in Germany said a forces spokesman army it. Col Ralph Coleman. A a we be had very few disciplinary problems and very few stress or personal problems a Coleman said. A a everybody a really highly  aside from responsibility for prosecution the pact addresses visa requirements Legal claims lice sure of Drivers and other issues he said. Canada still is negotiating jurisdictional agreements with the two other Middle Eastern countries where its troops Are stationed a saudi Arabia and Qatar. Bored member Long winded ceremonies can get the Best of even the proudest participants. Six year old Ahmed Bealum Misbah can to contain a Yawn monday at the graduation of his father and 495 other saudi army reservists from a military course in Al Hassa _ Baker denies envoy gave Washington a the . Ambassador to Iraq did not intend to signal approval for Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait when she met with the iraqi Leader in late july Secretary of state James Baker says. A a in a confident that she was not intending to. Give him the Green Light a Baker said in defending ambassador april Glaspie during a lbs interview with Connie Chung aired monday night. Glaspie met with Saddam on july 25 on one hours notice at his request. An iraqi transcript not disputed by the state department says she told him that the United states had no opinion on his Border dispute with Kuwait. Saddam s forces swept across the Border and seized Kuwait on aug. 2. Baker was asked if events might have been different if Saddam had been a sufficiently via Rudd repeatedly warned in some Way by the United states Ambala Dor to  a maybe ves absolutely Quot Baker said. Quot As the president has Saida i have said with 20-20 Hindsight there might be some things we would have done  Baker however dismissed any us uses Tion that Glaspie had sent mixed signals or Clid not correctly present the . Position. A no i would t agree a he-.,Aid. A and there s a lot of 20-20 Hin sighting of ambassador Glaspie who is a very Fine Public servant and 1 really think that that s unfortunate. A a and i think As in be said Many nun it times that it is ludicrous to suggest that somehow Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait because w 6 led him to invade Kuwait. He invaded Kuwait for his own selfaggrandizement.�?�. In Glaspie s meeting with Saddam. Baker said the ambassador was staling a what was the formal policy of the unit a states at that time in the sense  not have a Security guarantee or a formal Security arrangement with Kuwait