European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 19, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Germany edition vol. 50, no. 6 Friday april 19,1991 b authorized unofficial publication for the us armed a forces 350 d 8693 . Troops key to Relief Effort teams talk to kurdish refugees assess needs by j. King Clef a Ger Mediterranean Bureau Adana Turkey a . Forces involved in aiding kurdish refugees through operation provide Comfort Are playing an important role in establishing Camps in Northern Iraq for the hundreds of thousands of refugees existing in squalid conditions. The 14-member assessment teams Are crossing from Turkey into Iraq to Survey see related Story lon Page 2 the terrain and talk to refugees said spokeswoman capt Marcella Adams. A they Are not staying in Iraq overnight but crossing Back into Turkey a she said thursday. . Forces involved in the operation grew to More than 8,000 this week nearly 5,000 of them at in Ciurlik a Turkey. The Effort is part of an International operation to help the refugees. The assessment teams Are charged with determining the medical sanitation and nutritional needs of the refugee groups. Each team consists of a Captain a warrant officer an operations specialist two Field medical technicians two engineers two communications specialists an intelligence analyst and two weapons specialists a All members of army special forces units. They also include a paramedic and air traffic control specialist from the air Force. Information gathered on the status of the refugees is being relayed to a humanitarian service support base at silo i Turkey where . Medical Clearing units and civil military cooperation teams Are located. Once an assessment is re see plan on Page 10 americans with the 24th Marine expeditionary unit Brace themselves As a helicopter takes off carrying water for kurdish refugees. . Claiming credit for planto by Helen Thomas up White House reporter Washington a a White House spokesman thursday claimed  credit for the decision to create troop protected Safe havens for thousands of kurdish refugees in Northern Iraq and said major allies were a a amazed at the extent of the plan. A first of All this was an american proposal which we sought support of the other countries on and they were very supportive a press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said. Quot a a a a reporters expressed Surprise at Fitzwater s statement however because Britain France and Turkey had repeatedly no scaled to president Bush to establish the sanctuaries As hunger and cold made the kurd so plight increasingly desperate. Despite pressure placed on Bush in numerous Telephone Calls from British prime minister John major French president Francois Mitterrand and turkish president Turgut Ozal Fitzwater said a this was the United states proposal. President Bush presented it to the coalition partners in the last few  the press Secretary acknowledged the other govern ments a wanted to do something a but he said a it was our plan. They were amazed and had not considered anything that  five or six tent cities Are being built and guarded by 5,000 to 10,000 . Troops to assist and protect the refugees who Are being urged to come Down from the mountains and receive the Relief. Fitzwater admitted that the United states at first did not believe the Safe havens would be necessary. A before we were hoping to be Able to feed them in their locations a he said. A that obviously proved inadequate. There were just too Many people that were crowding into the Mountain  a earlier in the month Bush ordered a massive Airlift to feed the refugees. A the Airlift is helping but its clearly not solving the problem and the problem just got too big a Fitzwater said. A we had to go to this kind of operation.�?�. He noted soviet approval of the . Plan with a soviet spokesman announcing that president Mikhail s. Gorbachev was a thinking along the same lines As  signs Bill ending rail strike by the associated press. Train service chugged to a Start thursday As rail employees trickled Back to work and Union leaders rushed to Tell pickets their strike was Over. A a a a. A a. A president Bush signed a Bill Early thursday to put a Quick end to. A nationwide strike by 235,000 rail workers that threatened an already weak Economy. _. The strike began at 7 . Wednesday stalling movement of everything from Coal to Auto parts and disrupting passenger traffic along freight tracks shared by Amtrak and other railroads the government had feared an extended strike would devastate an already weak Economy and throw As Many As half a million non rail workers out of work. Presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater had said the immediate Cost of the strike was $50 million a Day. Dan Lang spokesman for the association of. See Bill on Page 10