European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 10, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday March 10, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 5 in the Gulf kuwaiti civilians returning Home tales abound of Captivity horror in Iraq by John Pomfret Quot the associated press on the iraqi Border of Kuwait a two by two they lined up to return Home in the near freezing darkness Friday illuminated Only by the glow of Distant Oil Well fires. One by one the first kuwaiti hostages released by Iraq spoke with horror of their Captivity under Saddam Hussein. A _ plucked from their Beds Gas stations offices stores and Tea shops by gun toting iraqi regulars the 1,187 men now returning to Kuwait had disappeared from it during the final Days of the Gulf War apparently As part of an iraqi plan to wreak vengeance on Kuwait for iraqis defeat on one Day feb. 22, dubbed a Black Friday a by kuwaitis More than 3,000 men vanished. Civilians All the first wave resurfaced Friday clattering into Kuwait in open iraqi troop trucks draped in thin blankets and Muddy scarves. In All More than 30,000 kuwaiti hostages few of them soldiers Are believed held in Iraq. For Many of the men the ordeal started out As so Many have in Kuwait during the seven month iraqi occupation. Soldiers barged into houses stopped cars halted people on streets and ordered them to the police station for a a after several Days in squalid custody the men were trucked into Iraq. None were accused of crimes they said. A they brought us to a military base outside of Basra a recalled Mansoor she Hab a 25-year-old accountant. A they put us in three rooms. We were packed in like chickens. Everywhere was excrement. At night we slept on the Cement floors. It was below freezing. If a kuwaiti doctor Hadnot been among us some of our old then would be for two weeks they stayed in the Camp packed in the Barracks like a shrimps or sardines in a Box a said Nezar Khajeh a director at kuwaiti television. Each room of about 100 Square Yards held More than 300 men. At night Allied bombing raids rocked the installation located just outside Basra iraqis second largest City. A we were worried wed became part of iraqis human shield a said Hami Jamal a 27-year-old computer Engineer. A after All. We were in a military meals consisted of Rock hard bread for a group of about 100 kuwaiti refugees walks toward the Border separating Kuwait from breakfast Rice mixed with pebbles for lunch and More bread for dinner. Food was washed Down with rain and swamp water. Several brought pieces of the Granite like bread for their families to see. One Man brought a spoon fashioned from a can of peaches to show his 5-year-old boy. A neither he nor i will Ever forget a he said. As the men lined up in the cold a red Dawn broke on the horizon. An american army major surveyed the Bunch. A it does no to make any sense a he said. A fall these poor Guys had nothing to do with the on one Side of the Highway in the desert Sand several Hundred of the men Knelt for morning prayers As 5 . Approached. A a. The Call to prayer Hung like an Appeal for Freedom boating above the Roar of bus engines. A this is our first free prayer in weeks a said Adel Al Sag Hayer a 31 year old aircraft maintenance Engineer. A i can to wait to return to my at the Border a Lone kuwaiti army officer checked the menus identification. A fall men who done to live kuwaiti accents or sufficient proof will be put aside and investigated a the kuwaiti officer said a if they can prove they Are kuwaiti we will let them into next to him several jordanians egyptians and stateless residents of Kuwait sat huddled against the chill. Several of them said they were born in Kuwait. When asked what would happen to them the officer smiled. A maybe they should go Quot a but my. Home is Kuwait a said one Man a 33-year-old palestinian. As morning broke 19 the men Back to Kuwait. The first Stop was a Hospital. The kuwaitis were released As part of an agreement Between Iraq and Allied forces following the expulsion of the iraqi army from Kuwait. Under the agreement Iraq agreed to treat All kuwaiti hostages As prisoners of War. In the stars and stripes Bush parlayed persian Gulf War into highest popular rating Ever by Karen Hosler the Baltimore Sun Washington a the internal White House sound system was left on just a moment too Long the night president Bush announced that Allied forces had gone to War against Iraq. It caught the commander in chief punctuating his somber televised remarks with an exuberant private aside to aides with him in the Oval office. A fall righty a the near glee in his voice seemed to reflect not so much a love of combat but the exhilaration of one of those rare instances in which a . President can Wield real Power a almost on his own. George Bush was the Central character in the persian Gulf conflict almost its soon As iraqi forces invaded Kuwait at 2. Although there were Many supporter actors a Secretary of state James a. Baker Iii Gen. Ii. Norman Schwarzkopf soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev a not even Saddam Hussein upstaged him. Bush a usual antagonists on Capitol Hill were reduced to bit parts. The president decided to respond with military intervention the first morning after the invasion and called the other crucial shots As Well. He never wavered in his determination that the takeover of a Kuwait would not be allowed to stand. To be sure Bush consulted cajoled and Smoot filed ruffled feathers where necessary. Many hours were logged on trans Atlantic phone Calls particularly to Israel where quietly accepting iraqis scud missile hits required enormous restraint and to the soviet Union where Gorbachev kept muddying the allies message to Iraq with proposals of his own. And congressional leaders w Ere invited to vent their doubts and suggestions at White House sessions so lengthy the lawmakers left praising Bush for his a open. Ness. But he was quite prepared to go to War without them if it came to that. Though there a Ere moment when it seemed his bold venture in the persian Gulf might doom his presidency the conflict turned out to be fortuitous for Bush. In fact recent polls show he is now far More popular than any president in the half Century that such surveys have been taken. The War rescued him from a no win Domestic quagmire Over the budget that had worsened with the Onset of the recession. It allowed him to showcase instead his three decades of diplomatic experience and International network of contacts. 10 years ago March 10, 1981 joking with his guards and blaming himself for his Fate 24-year old Steven to Judy went to his death in Indiana s electric chair for murdering a Mother and three Small children nearly two. Years ago. Quot i Don t hold no grudges. This is my doing sorry it Hap _ opened Quot were his last words. 20 years ago March 10, 1971 a Joe Frazier knocked former heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali Down in the 15th round in pounding out a unanimous 15-round decision to retain his world heavyweight championship. 30years ago March 10, 1961 a ranking . Military officials suggested that the armed forces eventually May take Over the civilian space Agency or at least one of its major projects the development of communications satellites. 40years ago March 10,1951 a Yugoslavia charged that the soviet Union Bent on overthrowing marshal Tito had massed Quot considerable numbers of red army troops Quot along her frontiers and was preparing Quot attack operations in the direction of
