European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 12, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday March 12. 1991the stars and stripes Page 3 desert a a v s s dispatches v sgt a. A. A a s Ujj a r a  John Millar some savor each pothole on tagline Road saudi Arabia a the need for fuel is the great equalizer in the desert forcing trucks of every size All descriptions to Idle in line to Quot Gether shiny Mack trucks squat next to beat up Mercedes in the Quarter mile stall at a Highway pit Stop. The fuel aside the Stop is not Worth much of a wait. Its a Chance to grab a hamburger and if necessary use the Fly infested open air facility that passes for a restroom. The fuel Stop also Marks the spot where the Highway takes a Sharp turn heading off toward the . Forces in Iraq and Kuwait or on toward Jordan. Before desert storm the endless stretch of Highway was called tagline Road. But the troops and trucks of the coalition deployment clogged its pitted Asphalt surface and soldiers soon were calling it the Highway to hell or Hemo Rhoid Highway. It also gained notoriety and the name suicide Road for its traffic jams and accidents As the masses of equip equip there ment headed North to the front. One Soldier said there were More deaths because of accidents on the Road than there were combat deaths during the 100-hour War. Neither military nor saudi officials could confirm the number of fatalities. The Asphalt is patched and potholed and crumbling. Americans would liken it to a simple two Lane country Road Back Home and it might have been before the buildup. But the persian Gulf War transformed it into one of the most heavily travelled roads in this part of the world perpetually clogged with trucks jeeps cars and other vehicles from several nations. There have always been abandoned cars along this desolate Highway. More recently they have been joined by scores More cars plus buses and trucks and trailers a left for dead. A few were hauled off for Salvage but most Are being picked clean for parts by scavengers and Are disappearing slowly like the carcass of a Roadside kill. A a. A. A. Quot a. \. A. A a t the carnage Here is no match for the littered highways of Kuwait and Southern Iraq but then this Wasny to a Battle zone. The damage was done by other Drivers not hellfire missiles or precision guided bombs. Some times however its hard to Tell the difference. Traffic has slackened some but not much since the War ended. Trucks carrying everything from ammunition to military motorcycles still ply the route heading North. Cars and pickup trucks flying saudi and kuwaiti flags weave in and out of the already treacherous flow and cracks and holes in the Road claim tires All along the Way. New wrecks join the old along the soft Sand shoulders. Despite its shortcomings the Highway to hell May one Day be remembered in fonder terms Many of the trucks heading North Are empty. Many of those going South Are filled with troops on their Quot of Eastern saudi Arabia. Teir Way to the air bases every pothole they pass is a pothole closer to Home. Jhc Start and strip in the Gulf. Aaa a a. A. A a a a. A a  is amps Kon Clauson Nassir Al Amouli owner of a Small electronics store in Dhahran says his business was Good during the War. Crowded streets full stores signal return to Normal life. A. A. A a a a a a a a. Byda Veschak Middle East Bureau Dhahran saudi Arabia a life and especially Commerce Are returning to Normal in the Eastern province. Most of the estimated 300,000 people who left the Region when the scud attacks began Jan. 17 have returned to the coastal cities of dam Mam a1 Khobiar and Dhahran. The streets again Are crowded with cars and the stores Are full. A yesterday i went to the Market up the Road in dam Mam and in be never seen so Many peo ple there in my life a said Mohammed Magrin an employee of Sau Dia air the National airline. A it was like they were coming up from the grave or something. I think they re out shopping because they re Back Ana also because our Muslim holy month will Start  i am so Happy a said synd Hashmat an Indian vegetable merchant. A my customers began returning one week after the War ended and 1 am making a Good  he said his business dropped by 80 percent. Hashmat said that Many of those who stayed behind lived in fear of Saddam Hussein and his missiles. A i was standing right Here helping a customer when that scud crashed and killed 28 americans a said Hashmat 29. A it hit less than a mile from Here and it scared me very badly i will never forget  now Hashmat said the people arc Back and things Are quickly returning to Normal. A everyone seems to be very Happy because the trouble is gone a he said. About the time hashing to a sales began picking up the _. Be began. R a. A a. A us Wizig Iii buy v during the holy month of Ramadan which begins a your sales f o a k n til in iia a re in attn a. Ii _ a a a assistant manager of a Large supermarket said he seeing Many of Nis regular saudi customers return. March 17 this year shops Are usually open Only Between 9 . And the noon prayer Ana Between 9 . And Midnight. Everyone is forbidden to smoke eat or drink in Public from Sunrise to Sunset. Magrin said Many of those returning to the Eastern province Are doing so by car but the 20 to 25 flights arriving each Day Are about 80 percent full. He said Dhahran a Airport closed Jan. 17 and reopened March 5. Magrin said about 2,000 passengers arrive each Day and the influx is noticeable All Over the province. A spokesman for the country a ministry of information estimated that half of the residents in the Dhahran area opted to sit out the War in the safety of Jedda Riyadh and other saudi arabian cities although Riyadh too came under scud attacks. The population of the Eastern province before the War was nearly 1 million with 80 percent concentrated around the ports of dam Mam Kho car and Dhahran and in Jubal farther North on the coast. Red around 20 or 30 percent during the War a said Carlito Castro 41, from the Philippines. A business is increasing especially at night. Many people stayed at Home after Sundown because that a when the scuds  Nassir Al Amouli the owner of a Small electronics store in a Dhahran shopping mall saw his business increase during the War. A a a in be been Selling a lot of things to soldiers from Western armies. I  keep shortwave radios in Stock a said Al Amouli 29. Al Amouli said that nearly All the stores in the mall closed during the first five Days of the Allied air offensive. Some began to open around the end of january and about 70 percent were doing business when the War ended. A i stayed open not because i have a lot of guts but because my wife is pregnant and i  run away a Al Amouli  burned cultural Sites by Bob Drogin the los Angeles times Kuwait City iraqis seven months be of Kuwait a culture and Economy was a grimly efficient affair. What the iraqis did no to steal they destroyed. At the Kuwait National museum Baghdad a museum chief personally supervised when 17 trucks drove up to cart off one of the worlds Best collections of ancient islamic Art. Then soldiers torched the buildings. At Kuwait University iraqi troops patiently unbolted and carried off every single Laboratory desk sink and instrument in the chemistry and physics buildings. Then they smashed thousands of Glass beakers and overturned desks and files. Other iraqis stole every computer from the National science and technical information Center. Then they carefully set fire to stacks of textbooks and journals in the Library. What Wasny to burned was ruined by the overhead sprinklers. A what iraqi president Saddam Hussein did to the people of Kuwait was a crime against humanity a said col. Jeffrey Greenhut the . Army a arts Monument and archives officer in Kuwait City. A the torching of the Oil Wells was a crime against the planet. A but what he did Here a Greenhut said pointing around the fire gutted museum that was once a Pride of the Arab world a was a crime against civilization. A i Haye devoted my life to the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge and this makes me angry. I want to shoot somebody.�?�. So did the iraqis. At the tree lined Kuwait zoo in. Mariya they shot two wolves a Black Leopard and wounded the elephant Azizpor. An iraqi general personally shot a Baboon after feeding a live Donkey to the Lions. The soldiers ate the Llamas Gazelles and a Porcupine. Then they brought the trucks up. A they took a Giraffe to Baghdad the monkeys the bears the Beautiful Birds the crocodiles the Ostrich a said Aji Habib Mohammed Shojaie 43, a school guard who volunteered to feed and Yater the surviving animals. A at entertainment City a children a amusement Park 12 Miles North in Doha the iraqis somehow stole the entire a arabian Carousel merry go round. Elsewhere elementary schools were emptied of every desk chair and Book. Hospitals lost autoclaves and Electron microscopes. Anti tank weapons blasted the clock Tower at the Seaside Sief Palace then the Wood panelled Library and elegant moorish style buildings were torched. The iraqis stole the Kuwait Stock exchanges main computer looted and set fire to High Rise office buildings and luxury hotels. They stole Gold reserves and $1 billion in Cash from the Central Bank and emptied safety Deposit boxes