European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 23, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday february 23, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 7 War in the Gulf iraqis rely on classic fixed defense formidable but historically a failure by Randy Pruitt staff writer. In the deserts of Kuwait iraqi forces Are dug in behind a system of 8-foot-tall Walls of Sand deep ditches that Are reportedly filled with Oil and thousands of deadly a classic example of a fixed defense a form of warfare that frightens but usually fails. Historians and War strategists Are hesitant to make direct comparisons of past confrontations and the Battle that is now looming on the saudi kuwaiti Border. However they do agree that history has Many lessons to offer. Or. John f. Guilmartin a retired air Force lieutenant colonel who is an associate professor of history at Ohio state University said the concept of a fixed defences a dates to at least 7000 b.c., when the Pep pie of Jericho erected Stone defences to protect their City. The Art of fortification probably reached its Zenith in the Middle Ages with the intricate geometrically designed Wall Cpd cities designed by French military Engineer Marquis de Vauban. A a it a a principle of War. Barriers Are built to keep somebody out. You la never win wars by them a said or. Paul Rose a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland. Rose said the Maginot line in France the most expansive Static defense network after the great Wall of China became laughable when the germans simply went around it. A a once the defensive position is breached the defender pretty Well has had it. History suggests we re Apt to see very rapid collapse a Guilmartin said. The Battle near Al Alamein Egypt makes that Point. This decisive engagement was fought in North Africa from oct. 23, 1942, to nov. 5, 1942. It preceded a series of British defeats. The germans under Field marshal Erwin Rommel had pushed the British 8th army commanded by Gen. Bernard Montgomery across the libyan desert and into Egypt. Montgomery Bent on stopping Rommel decided to counterattack and storm the desert foxes deep system of minefields and treacherous barriers of fixed defences along a 35-mile corridor. Breaking through these defences and forcing the germans to Retreat would take 12 Days and Cost 32,000 German lives and those of 13,500 Allied troops statistics that should not be lost on coalition leaders planning a ground assault on Kuwait according to Christopher Foss the editor of the authoritative Jane a Armour and artillery. A a it a still going to be expensive getting through it All Quot he said. Yea Tara depression amp. A a a a a a a a a a a a. A aaa scale of Miles a a a a a a 7 a a a a a a a. A a affy v a a a a a. A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a \ a a a a a a it a a a a a a a a a. Aaa a a a _ a a a a 10 15 20 a amps Susan Harris a source the hinge of Fate by Winston s. Churchill col. Andrew Duncan the assistant director of information with the International Institute for strategic studies in London said he expects the iraqi fixed defences to be formidable. A a they be had five months to dig them and they had a lot of practice in the War with Iran. A British Engineer saw them when he was a journalist during that War and he rates them very highly a he said. The iraqi infantry is another matter. A parts of it Are quite Good parts of it Are abysmal and a lot in the Middle is pretty mediocre a he said. For the infantry Duncan said a land assault in the kuwaiti desert will in Many ways be like desert fighting in world War ii. A wide open spaces and Long movements a he said a a it a not something that is totally a a. A Quot a a a a or. James Herzog a professor of government history and politics at the University of Maryland anua.ic-. Tired Navy officer said a ground War in the desert can be compared with a naval warfare. A you have no landmarks out they. The Way the wind blows Sand dunes around you have nothing permanent to fix on a he said. A in would War ii the British and germans carried compasses and sextants to navigate like at . The history of desert warfare is highly Mobile he said. A a a a there Are vast expanses of surface and the ability 1 to strike and fade away or to keep on striking As Long As the enemy keeps falling . A Good analogy is the race with Rommel and Forth across the desert. Until he hit something solid the situation to play on words was quite in the Bleak desert near Al Alamein the fluidity froze. A a a a a. A. A a a _. A a v. A a a flying Between the Rocky Hillock of Tel cd Eisa on the Mediterranean coast and the Uoo foot Pyramid Ofcarek Al heme mat near the Edge of Pattara depression it was the one position in the whole of the Western desert which could not be outflanked a one of Rommel a commanders wrote after the War. Under the circumstances Montgomery planned to penetrate the germans North Hank where it met the Mediterranean sea. At the same time he wanted to mount a subsidiary attack to the South. Despite Montgomery a air and tank superiority and 2-to-l manpower advantage the Battle did no to go according to plan. His troops failed to break through at the sea. A a it Quot by Quot. V the general having failed in the North turned to the Middle which was held by the italians. This change produced the breakthrough for which Montgomery was fighting and forced Rommel to Retreat West. But the toll for this Retreat was staggering a below them stretched nothing but death and destruction to the very horizon Quot began an account of the aftermath in the Book a the taste of a shattered trucks Burnt and contorted tanks blackened and tangled heaps of wreckage not to be recognized. They scattered the landscape As thickly As stars in the sky. Like dead stalks in the Sand titles were thrust upright a a denuded Forest. And each one meant a Man who had been maimed or killed. A inside each wrecked tank a putrid blackening paste on the Walls was what an Armor piercing Shell had left of the men who had manned it. A a a these were details of the scene repeated again and again in every Corner of the desert landscape a great rubbish Heap of Metal and human flesh. So the victors sat gazing across the Gigantic reservists guardsmen in Gulf May get vital Legal Protection Washington apr the Senate thursday night passed legislation protecting members of the National guard and other armed forces Reserve units serving in the persian Gulf from mortgage foreclosure and a Host of other Legal problems. The chamber passed the measure an amendment to the soldiers and sailors Relief act of 1940. On a voice vote without dissent and sent it to the House. A passage today is the Only Way to assure these citizen soldiers and sailors that their country will not fail to match their commitment to duty a said sen. Dennis Deconcini a Ariz chairman of the Senate veterans affairs committee. Earlier thursday rep. Toby Roth r-wis., introduced legislation that would direct the defense department to allow immediate members of a family to be exempted trom service within the same combat zone. A a a closing one member of a family is a real tragedy. Losing More than one especially when we could have acted in time their country will not fail to match their commitment to duty a sen. Dennis Deconcini to prevent it is too great a sacrifice for any family a Roth told reporters at a news conference. Similar legislation sponsored by sen. John Heinz r-pa., was Defeated wednesday. The Pentagon opposes it. Among the protections afforded the More than 200,0 h citizen soldiers Are these a an increase in the maximum rental or mortgage delinquency required before an eviction from si50 to $1,200. A reinstatement of employer provided health insurance. A a prohibition against credit discrimination related to a service members credit suspension of malpractice insurance Premium payments for physicians called to Active duty until their return to the United states. A the right to return to the civilian Job if called up for More than 90 Days. The Pentagon has a regulation to protect sole surviving family members. Another directive states that All but one immediate family member can request a Transfer from the same unit or ship in time of War Roth a proposal would allow members of the same family to request transfers out of a combat zone As opposed to simply off the same ship or out of the same would require the department to Honor the request of at least one of those family members senator at work in addition the proposal would require the department to Honor the request of single Parent with some custody of children to Transfer out of a combat zone. A Seh. John Warner r-va., kneels in front a Holystone used for polishing ships decks on a the battleship Wisconsin. Warner was aboard the ship As part of a tour of forces stationed in the Gulf. A
