European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 29, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 b the stars and stripes monday april 29, 1991 by Ron Jensen staff writer 1ncirlik a Turkey a american British and Canadian aircrews flew Only six Airdrop missions saturday a. Huge drop off that signals a shift in emphasis for operation provide Comfort a will Call it part of the maturation of the operation a a said it. Col. . Crowley a spokesman for the humanitarian Relief Mission. Light Airdrop schedules also were planned for sunday and monday. American Crews from the 37th tac Airlift so from. Rhein main a Germany and the 61st tac Airlift so from Lillie Rock ark., had been flying 30 missions daily. A the Airdrop in the first weeks allowed us to get at the problem quickly a Crowley said. But officials knew All along that helicopters and trucks were the answer for the sustainment of Aid to the kurdish refugees along the Iraq Turkey Border Crowley said sunday afternoon. The Relief operation eventually will be handed Over to the United nations according to military officials. A at that Point it has to be a commercial operation. They done town c-130s,�?� he said referring to the airlifts Workhorse aircraft. The Airlift has accomplished its Mission he said presenting the death by discovery takes off for Star wars tests Capi canaveral Fla a. A space shuttle discovery blasted into orbit sunday with seven astronauts who will conduct More than a week of intensive Star wars research for the Pentagon. 5 the 100-ton spaceship thundered away from its Seaside launch pad at 7 33 . Edt. Liftoff was delayed about half an hour after one of two data recorders aboard discovery started unexpectedly. The countdown clock was stopped with nine minutes remaining As Engi. Neers assessed the situation. They concluded there was no problem with discovery a computers and the countdown resumed. It is the first space flight for five of the astronauts and the 40th shuttle Mission for Nasa. Unlike last weeks countdown there were no problems during fueling. All the engine sensors worked As Nasa pumped More than a half million Gallons of liquid Hydrogen and liquid oxygen into discovery a external tank late saturday and Early sunday. Defense department officials said they have no reason to believe the delays harmed the More than $260 million Worth of instruments aboard discovery. A you just As soon not stand on the Edge any longer than you have to. But we be stood there quite Well a said Michael Harrison a research official for the strategic defense initiative or sol better known As Star wars. The astronauts will release an sol spacecraft the second Day of the eight Day flight. For 36 hours the spacecraft will orbit near discovery studying shuttle exhaust plumes and chemicals and gases sprayed into space. Sol scientists will use the data to develop sensors for detecting and destroying enemy missiles. Starvation and exposure of Many refugees. Refugees soon will begin to leave their Mountain Camps Crowley said. A was Zakhoo a temporary. Center in Iraq begins to open up in the next Day or two you la Sec people begin to leave the mountains and head for the Camp or head Home a he said. A you still will have pockets of people who will not leave the mountains and will need to be served by air a Crowley said. A that will done primarily by helicopter. A we will schedule Only As Many sorties As what we need on the ground a he said. A a it a not that we re dropping off the amount delivered. Not at All. The helicopters arc taking Over. The trucks Are missions taking As of Friday More than 1,700 Airdrop missions had been flown by fixed Wing aircraft and helicopters into the mountains along the Iraq Turkey Border by the United states great Britain France Canada Italy and Germany. Meanwhile truckloads of supplies have been stockpiled at Forward bases like silo i and Diyarbakir waiting for this phase of the operation Crowley said. Although the Airlift is easing Crowley said it is too soon to Tell when air lifters will be leaving the Region a i asked that question a he said. A the answer is a we done to know a Efrom Page 1 refugees that May arrive soon. A we thought we would a never come Back to Iraq a said Obaid Ali 21. The refugees fled into Turkey and Iran after iraqi president Saddam Hussein crushed their Short lived rebellion. The kurd so safety was a concern at the United nations. France asked for a meeting of the five permanent Security Council members to examine the situation in Iraq following a tentative Accord last week Between Baghdad and kurdish leaders. That move gained momentum sunday in Luxembourg when european Community nations endorsed a British proposal to deploy a . Police Force in Iraq. Under the British plan such a Force would show hundreds of thousands of kurdish refugees it is Safe to return Home from Northern Iraq Turkey and Iran. British foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd proposed sending a . Force of As yet undetermined size to kurdish cities in Northern Iraq. Such a Force would replace . And other Allied troops. In Southern Iraq meanwhile air Force transport planes began taking off at Daybreak from Safwan a air Field airlifting the first 339 iraqis one third of them children to saudi Arabia. The Arab forces commander saudi arabian it Gen. Khalid bin Sultan said several Hundred refugees would be flown daily to the Camp at Rafha on the saudi Border 250 Miles West of Here. . Military officials said the flights could carry 1,500 a Day. The saudi Camp already houses 21,000 iraqi refugees and were expected to grow to 29,000, in other developments a a respected British newspaper reported sunday that Saddam is rebuilding Nis Defeated army in Defiance of the United nations in order to crush dissent. The observer newspaper quoted jordanian sources As saying that the iraqi Leader has set up an operation in Jordan to illicitly buy military technology and equipment. Jordan supported Iraq during the persian Gulf War. A Saddam a Hometown celebrated his 54th birthday sunday with music traditional official predictions that he will be president for a Long time to come. About 3,000 people attended the Celebration Only a fraction of the usual 100,000 who come from All Over the coun. Try. One organizer blamed transportation difficulties in the War ravaged r from Page 1 ground surveillance equipment a everything but their parachutes. Quot a a we re not going in there to perform combat. We re going in to assist in operation project Comfort a said maj. Kenneth m. Crowe assistant chief of staff operations Southern european task Force setae. Crowe said the soldiers wont be handling supplies airlifted to the kurd. A i you can pretty much draw a conclusion they will have the role to protect those forces responsible for moving Thos supplies and establishing base portions of that unit Are already in the Region nine helicopters from the Echo co. 502nd aviation regt Are airlifting Relief supplies. Riggers from the 325lh have been preparing Relief supplies for air drop delivery since the operation began. The 14th trans in is Man aging the flow of supplies from ports to the Camps. Crowe said the 325th is organized like other airborne battalions except for its anti tank killing capability. The unit has its own 105mm mortar artillery Battery five anti tank platoons and other equipment that make it heavier than a Normal airborne battalion. Its also larger than a Normal battalion which runs about 675 troops. Crowe said the soldiers whose average age is 20, Are excited about leaving in part because they did not participate in the persian Gulf War. A a it a like you practice for the big football or baseball game and you sit on the Bench and watch from the sidelines Quot no said. A we want a piece of the Crowe said the soldiers have no qualms about being peacekeepers As opposed to combat. A they feel Iii Erc s a need for what they re doing a he said. A if it should escalate beyond that they re prepared. If it gets Nasty they can get shortly before Takeoff the soldiers milled around on the Airfield nestled in a Snow capped Mountain Range. Some read popular novels. A few read the Bible. Sgt. Peter j. Schichtel assistant squad Leader of a combat Engineer platoon stared a Long time at the inside of his helmet. Pasted inside was a photo of his family. Spec. Robert Martineau 22, said a someone has to provide Security for the kurd. I thought it was Only a matter of time before they were going to use a radio Telephone operator from St. Paul minn., Martineau is both excited and nervous about the assignment. �?o1 done to know what to expect Quot he said. Back at the base morale is g gtd even despite the soldiery sudden exit. Jones the movie snack bar worker said the theater will begin showing older movies saving the new releases for the troops w Hen they return. Club Veneto manager Ole Olson said what happened this weekend is different from when soldiers leave on Normal training exercises. A the difference a he said a is we Don t know How Long they re going to he gone.fbifrom Page 1 Joseph r. Biden jr., d-del., chairman of the Senate judiciary committee who has proposed a democratic alternative to president Bush a crime Bill. A the president and Congress must pass Tough measures to fight crime ban killer assault guns and combat the epidemic of i Ole Nee against women before the death toll grows even higher a Biden said. Attorney general c Dick Thornburgh also saw in the statistics a need to pass a crime Bill a the one proposed by the Bush administration. Quot never before has the need for the presidents Tough crime Bill been so pressing and the consequences of its absence been so dramatic a Thornburgh said. Leading the nation in murder is new York City with 2,245 in 1991up from 1,905, an 18 percent increase. The murder rate in new York City exceeds six per Day. A it s the availability of drugs and the availability of handguns Quot said Michael Markman new York City Deputy police chief. A in 196 1, 19 percent of All our homicides Wyre committed by handguns a Markman said. A in 1990,69 percent of All the homicides were committed by the use of handguns. A in 1960, you had the saturday night special a $25 gun. It fired a .22-caliber&Quot if it fired at All. It bounced off your jacket half the time. It would fire one round and that was the end of it. A now Quot Markman said Quot we have 9 Millimetres. They carry maybe 16 rounds 18 rounds. They work All the Lime. They re More powerful. You Don t have to he a Good shot when you fire 16 the other six cities with increased murder rates Are a los Angeles 983, up 12 percent from 877. Chicago 850, up 15 percent from 742. A Houston 568, up 24 percent from 459. A Philadelphia. 503. Tip 6 percent of 475. A w Ashington 472. Up 9 percent of 434. Cities with populations ranging f. to 1 million had urge incr in the violent categories including i percent Rise in violent crimes. In those cities murder was up 19 cent rape increased 11 percent Roc Rose 18 percent and aggravated ass wus up 14 percent. Geographic ally. The South had is larger increases in crimes the the Midwest. A get tend non he a
