European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 1, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes Friday March 1,1991saddam from Page 1 and overwhelming firepower to rout an  described initially As the worlds fourth largest. But More than 3,000 of iraqis 4,280 tanks were destroyed or captured As were nearly 1,900 of its 2,870 armoured vehicles and More than 2,100 of its 3,110 artillery pieces. J the general also said there was a a very Large number of iraqi dead on the Battlefield. A a a v a a there a not enough left for him to become an offensive regional threat a the general said. A unless someone chooses to rearm them in the  Schwarzkopf said the first problem Allied forces had to contend with was the Superior numbers they faced. His forces were outnumbered 3-to-2, but More important 2-to-l in combat troops. A i think any student of military strategy would Tell you that in order to attack a position you should have a ratio of approximately 3-to-l in favor of the attack or a he said. \ to attack a dug in position like that in Kuwait requires a ratio of about 5-to-l, he said. A Ltd a Quot the if Campaign was designed to close that difference. By pounding the iraqi soldiers with More than 1,000 daily sorties for More than 40 Days troop strength was equated out. /. Many of the front line iraqi units were at less than 50 percent strength when the ground invasion began he acid. Some units in the second line of defense were at 50 percent to 75 percent strength following the constant bombing. ,. The Republican guard iraqis Best units were at the rear Well entrenched and harmed Little by the bombing. A the Nightmare scenario for All of us would have been to go through the front line get Hung up on this breach right Here and then have the enemy artillery rain chemical weapons Down on troops a he said. V a a but the attrition of iraqi troops and artillery at the front diminished and ultimately eliminated that risk. The air War also allowed Schwarzkopf to pull off a troop movement massive in size and incredible in Success and deception. A a a a a a a. / a a when the United states first moved troops to saudi Arabia a a defensive Force in August and an offensive Force in november a Schwarzkopf positioned them South of the saudi Border with Kuwait face to face with the iraqis. To get iraqis attention he made an obvious display of naval Power in the Gulf including amphibious assault training. Fearing am invasion from the sea Iraq mustered a great Deal of defences along the Shore of Kuwait. A we continued to have those operations because we wanted him to concentrate his forces which he did a Schwarzkopf said. Quot a a a  a. But the plan was to move much of the Allied Force from South of the kuwaiti Border to a position West of the Iraq Kuwait Border. And he said this had to be done without iraqi knowledge. A we knew that he had very very limited reconnaissance Means a Shwarz Kopf said. A therefore when we took out his air Force for All intents and purposes we took put his ability to see what we a were doing Down Here in saudi  what the allies did was move Vii corps to the Western position in the weeks before the ground invasion of Kuwait. The corps included the 1st  div 3rd  div and the exist inf div f plus the 101st airborne div 24th inf div the French 6th armed in and the British 1st  div. A _ a a this was absolutely an extraordinary move a he said. A i must Tell you i can to recall any time in the annals of military history when this number of forces have moved Over this distance to put them of selves in a position to be Able to attack a. The move also included the positioning f of logistics bases with enough supplies for 60 Days he said. At 4 . Sunday a Day the Day of the ground offensive arrived. The 1st Marine div and 2nd Marine. Div along with the Tiger brigade of the 2nd  div did what the iraqis expected a pushed into the obstacle zone Between Kuwait and saudi  amphibious feints and naval gunfire began. The idea was to fix the iraqis in that position so they would not be aware of what was about to happen out West. A Quot a a. A i believe we succeeded in that very Well a the Genera said. A a also at 4 ., the. French and the 82nd airborne div attacked Western Iraq to take the Al Salman Airfield. At 8 ., the 101st airborne delayed a bit by the weather launched an air assault deep into Iraq to establish a Forward base near the Tigris and euphrates River valleys. Schwarzkopf paused to Point out the significance of this move. A there Are a lot of people who still Are saying that the object of the United states of America was to capture Iraq and cause the downfall of the entire country a he said. A ladies and gentlemen when we were Here in the River valleys we were 150 Miles away from Baghdad and there was nobody Between us and Baghdad.�?�. Had the object been to destroy Iraq he said a we could have done it unopposed a instead he said the plan was to eject Iraq from Kuwait. A we launched an attack with the entire Vii corps where the 1st inf div went through breached an obstacle and minefield Barrier established quite a Large breach through which we passed the 1st British  div a the general explained. A at the same time we launched the 1st  div and the 3rd  div and because of our deception plan and the Way it worked we did no to even have to worry about a Barrier. A we just went right around the enemy and were behind him in no time at ail a by the end of a Day iraqi forces in Kuwait and Southern Iraq were virtually surrounded. The avenues of escape were nearly shut off. A the next two Days went exactly like we thought they would go a Schwarzkopf Quot said. A a a a / / a / v / / saudi and Arab forces on the left flank of the marines headed toward Kuwait City Vii corps attacked East through Iraq toward the Kuwait Border. The 24th inf div moved through the. River valleys to Block iraqis final exit. The French protected the Western flank of the operation and the British continued to  r a a a a / a by this time we had destroyed or rendered completely ineffective Over 21 iraqi divisions a the general said. That number ultimately grew to 40. Iraq began the War with 42 divisions. As Schwarzkopf explained the Battle wednesday night it was dear that an end was in Sigl to. A Wall of Allied forces blocked Kuwait from the West marines and Arab forces were in the South a the Gates a he said a Are  front from Page 1and the withering 5/>week air assault that choked Supply lines disrupted communications and methodically hammered strategic targets. At the end iraqi forces reeled in Retreat uner pressure of the biggest , tank and airborne assault since world War ii they were chased to within a sunday drive of Baghdad Iraq before Bush ordered a halt to the Allied attacks. A by Daybreak thursday scores of iraqi tanks Lay in flames soldering in dug in fortifications of Sand and a dirt. A a a a a v \ a senior Pentagon military official said the Republican guard tanks Quot never fought the Way you thought a division would fight. We just kind of chased them across the Clairis shooting at them a he said. At first Baghdad radio did not mention the ceasefire. But hours later it broadcaster a statement by an iraqi military spokesman ordering Saddam a troops to Stop fighting. Bush said a permanent halt to fighting depends upon the actions of Iraq. A this War is now behind us a Bush said in a nationwide address on wednesday night. A ahead of us is the difficult task of securing a potentially historic  Secretary of state James a. Baker Iii will go to saudi Arabia Egypt Syria Israel Turkey and the soviet Union to pursue a diplomatic Campaign to secure the postwar peace.  a Quot Quot the Bush administration already has decided to urge the . Security Council to maintain a ban on All weapons shipments to Iraq As Long As Saddam remains in Power. A. A a. Diplomats at the United nations were setting Abou that task. The Security Council met thursday morning after the late night drama of iraqis agreement to abide by the councils resolutions. The dozen Security Council resolutions on Kuwait passed in the Wake of iraqis aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait include provisions on reparations and human rights violations an  embargo and the renunciation of iraqi claims to Kuwait. A a iraqis Promise to abide by the resolutions came in a letter addressed to the Security Council and signed by iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz. A the government of Iraq agrees to fully comply with . Resolution 660 and All the other Security Council resolutions a it read in part. Bush said thursday that Iraq has agreed to a . Request to name military commanders to meet with the coalition to discuss cease fire terms including the return of prisoners of War. A we will promptly go Back to them with the arrangements. It will be very soon a Bush said. He added a we expect a prompt repatriation of american pos and kuwaiti detainees. \ the allies have demanded the release of All prisoners of War and third country nationals All kuwaiti detainees estimated by . Officials at 40,000 a and the remains of those who died. T a in addition the coalition is demanding the location of All land and sea mines Laid by the iraqis. The iraqis released few figures about casualties but an iraqi government official said 20,000 iraqis had been killed and 60,000 wounded in the first 26 Days of the War without specifying whether they were civilians or combatants or Beth Quot / at least 80,000 iraqi troops were taken  from Page 1 / / Tulion predicted six to eight months Quot we re going to have to see How the peace process develops a Neal said in Riyadh. A cleaning equipment getting organized policing up the Battlefield. That will All take  sen. Sam Nunn  chairman of the Senate armed services committee said he expects the United states to maintain a number of troops in the middie East a for some time to come As the nations of the Region form a new Security framework. A a Iraq no longer poses an external offensive threat a he said a the concern now is guarding against any spillover from the internal situation  a the size of a continued . Military presence in the theater depends largely on. The willingness of other coalition members particularly Arab nations such As Egypt to keep their forces in place while a postwar scenario is mapped out he said. Egypt has 35,000 troops deployed. 7 prime candidates to be among the first  troops to go Home include front line combat units that were rushed to the theater in the Early Days of the buildup last summer. A. A a a the 82nd airborne division is our rapid deployment Force for contingencies so i would expect that wed pull that unit out immediately so it could reconstitute itself Quot Wood said. The 101st airborne div and the 24th inf div Mech should also be near the top of the redeployment list he said. A the bulk of our combat troops should leave fairly quickly a Wood said. A the ones who will have to remain behind Are these Prity logistics and support  Many of the ships in the massive naval Armada in the Region including six aircraft Carrier Battle groups and two battleships also should be Able to depart quickly he said. A. But a Good argument could be made for keeping a fairly Large amount of air Power in theater for the Short term Wood said. A a there Are still a Large number of High performance iraqi fighter aircraft that remain unaccounted for that Arentt among those that were destroyed or fled to Iran a he said. Pentagon planners Are just beginning to shape the larger personnel aspects of the withdrawal. Many decisions will not be made a until the dust clears a bit a As one official put it. Stop Doss actions which have kept thousands of people in uniform past their Normal separation dates will probably end sooner for sonic troops than others the official said. A a Stop loss will probably not be reversed for everyone All at once a he said. A the services will probably Start phasing it out a Little at a . Personnel in the theater with Job skills that Are most critical to completing the military Mission will  the last to leave the official said. Military police engineers transp Tion and other logistics specialists i purification teams and civil affairs perts have some of the skills that if needed Binkin said. A there is still a lot of work to be d there a he said. A How every  in the u a and other parts of the i who have been extended on Active t by Stop loss actions could be the ones released the Pentagon said. Reserve troops should not expect to it redeployed and demobilized ahead their Active duty counterparts. Talc types a at Are 11 critical to postwar operations Are n ii Kiev to be handled by reservists than Uve duty troops said it. Col. D super a Pentagon Reserve affairs offic it remains to be seen How we re i i a wind All this a super said. A a a rely heavily on the Wisdom of the c Manders in theater in terms of what Tecl their necessities