European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 7, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday july 7, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 3ex-pow recounts 40 Days in Iraq a amp a Jim Meme in its business As usual As capt. Mike Roberts prepares for a routine Mission. By David Tarrant staff writer Torrejon a Spain a capt. Mike Roberts straps himself into the f-16 fighting Falcon ready to Streak off into the Early morning sky on a training Mission. His upturned visor momentarily reflects the Drift of plump Clouds. But his mind turns Over a More turbulent scene from almost six months ago when an iraqi surface to air missile knocked his f-16 out of the air. And when an angry crowd waited to pounce on him As he tumbled to the ground on the Edge of Baghdad. Roberts spent 40_days As a prisoner of War in Baghdad. The modest easygoing Pilot from Savannah ga., found himself in a frightening world shuttled from one cramped prison cell to another beaten starved forced to pose for a videotape condemning the War and held in solitary confinement. His personal ordeal extended beyond physical deprivation. His wife Patty was Only Days away from delivering their first child when he was captured. A fall the stuff that was happening to me personally i thought i could handle he said at the Home of 401st tac fighter Wing in Torrejon an air base near Madrid. A the hardest part was not knowing what was happening to my wife and  on the afternoon of Jan. 19, the third Day of the persian Gulf War Roberts had absolutely no idea what would happen to him. Roberts an f-16 Pilot with the 614th tac fighter so of the 401st tac fighter Wing was participating in the first Daylight bombing raid on Baghdad. It was his third combat sortie Overall. He was part of a Large group of several dozen aircraft leaving Qatar. The group which included f-16s, f-15s and Falls aimed to wreak gloom and doom on Saddam Hussein a front Yard. The formation met Little flak when it turned North Over enemy territory a just one burst of a triple a a or anti aircraft artillery. But closer to Baghdad the aircraft encountered what american pilots called Iron rain a lethal curtain from anti aircraft artillery. The planes topped out Over the flak at 25,000 feet. But there was More bad news. Thick Clouds obscured much of Baghdad including Roberts target a key military building. His team turned Back. A Pilot behind Roberts noticed a Sam launch referring to the deadly surface to air missiles that lock onto their targets. A when i heard the launch called i was already looking out for it. I started to pull away and tried to generate some Mist to make that missile overshoot a he said using a pilots term for putting distance Between his Jet and the warhead. Instead the missile detonated close to Roberts Jet. A i Felt a Little bit of a bump but i thought i was Fine. I was going to dump the nose Down to get some airspeed Back. But the nose just kept coming Down pretty  As he struggled to fight off a negative is a an inverse Gravity pull that can snatch a Pilot right off his seat during a Steep dive Roberts looked to his left and his stomach churned. Black smoke poured from underneath the Wing. None of his flight controls responded. A so i figured that was about it. It was time to get out of there while i still could. So i reached Down and pulled the handle of the ejection seat. The launch blasted him from the cockpit still strapped to his seat at 20,000 feet and falling face Forward toward the ground. He caught a glimpse of his f-16 just As it disappeared through a Cloud Bank. Finally he Felt a Jolt As his Parachute opened. A a it a just a really lonely feeling a he said describing his four mile drop Over Baghdad. A a you re there heading Tor the ground toward the place you just dropped bombs on top of people and you know they Arentt going to be very Happy when you get  As he drifted to the ground he saw tracer bullets beneath him. A and i could hear the reports of guns firing. I done to know if they were trying to hit me or if they were just shooting in my direction to try to scare me or  he landed 300 Yards away from a four Lane Highway South of Baghdad. A i saw these civilians parked along the Road watching me come Down to a Field. I hit the ground and i did no to want to just wait for them. So i dropped the Chute and started  the civilians quickly caught him and began stripping him a even taking his earplugs. Less than a minute later several iraqi soldiers arrived on the scene. They threw him into a mini station Wagon and took him to a nearby military site. Just 10 minutes after he ejected he was being interrogated by iraqi Security police. Blindfolded his hands bound the lanky georgian endured several hours of questioning punctuated by beatings with fists and a rubber stick. Occasionally a guard would slam a Rifle Bolt near his ear. Although severely abused he never Felt his life was in danger. A i Felt like. They probably wanted me for information or As a propaganda tool or something. So i figured they weren to going to kill  the next morning sunday the 20th of january his guards took him to a prison that held other downed pilots. This time he and the other pos were beaten until they agreed to make a crude videotape condemning the War. A i remember one time they took me into this room and knocked me Down and started kicking me in the face and beating me in the head with something like a rubber Bat. 1 just said a Why do you want me to make this video Nhy do you want me to do it a a one of the interrogators said a because of this Quot slapping a rubber Bat against his leg. Over the next 10 Days when the guards were not watching he snatched bits of conversation with other pos including another Pilot from his Squadron maj. Jeff Tice who was shot Down the same Day As Roberts. The food a a piece of bread and Tea for breakfast some watery soup for lunch and a Small piece of meat for dinner a a was no to great but it kept us from starving to death a Roberts said. Personal Hygiene on the other hand was virtually non existent. It would get worse before it got better. On Jan. 31, Roberts said the prisoners were moved to what seemed to be a secret police Headquarters judging by its extra thick Concrete Walls and solid soundproof doors. A the place. Was pretty bad. We were Lucky that nobody ended up dying there because i think they were trying to starve us to death. They a bring us about a half a cup of Greasy dishwater and a crust of bread every  it was Here that the 6-foot, 185-Pound Roberts dropped most of the 30 pounds he lost in Captivity. On the night of feb. 23, the building was bombed. Several cell Walls were blown out but miraculously none of the two dozen Allied and Arab prisoners was Hurt. They were moved to another building the night the ground War started. A few Days later an iraqi wearing civilian clothes said the pos would soon be going Home. The information startled the prisoners who were unaware that the ground War had begun. A we were thinking we were looking at a Long haul a Roberts said. Sure enough the bombs stopped falling and the prisoners treatment soon improved. They were Given More food. Roberts shaved and changed clothes for the first time since his capture. He and the other pos spent a night at a Baghdad hotel before joining up with the red Cross. Soon he was airborne leaving Iraq and the hell of six weeks in Captivity. Andrew Roberts called Drew by the family was born feb. 21st a 33 Days after his father was captured. A Small color snapshot from Early March shows a beaming although thinner Roberts cuddling his new son. Looking Back on his experience Roberts said he feels fortunate because he knows that his Captivity could have been a lot worse. A we were really Lucky that we were there in Iraq just a Short amount of time. I look Back on those pos in Vietnam who were there six seven years. And probably with a lot worse treatment than we  soviets pass Bill to lure foreign 6 Moscow apr the supreme soviet legislature passed a Long awaited Law on foreign investment Friday that strengthens Legal guarantees and offers concessions to attract capital from abroad. The measure a approved by a vote of 340-11 with 11 abstentions a provides the Legal groundwork for president Mikhail s. Gorbachev a plans to revamp the Economy with Western Aid investment and management know How. The Law gives foreign investors equal Legal rights with soviet citizens and allows new businesses to be created with 100 percent foreign ownership the offi Cial soviet news Agency Tass reported. To attract investors businesses with substantial foreign investments will be exempt from import duties and Export taxes. Soviet businesses with a minimum of 15 percent foreign ownership will have the right to engage in import Export of investors rations without licenses the Law says. The need to obtain such licenses from the sluggish bureaucracy has been a major impediment to foreign Trade. The Law could also make it possible for foreigners to buy shares in state industries that undergo privatization under narrow conditions