European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 12, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 8 c the stars and stripes thursday March 12, 1992central come sees Iraq Iran threat by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a the general who oversees the defense of . Interests in the Middle East told lawmakers wednesday that his focus is fixed squarely on an a a intransigent Iraq and a menacing Iran that is vying to become the regions dominant Power. A despite enormous wartime losses Iraq has salvaged a significant military capability and shows every intention of reconstituting its forces a Marine corps Gen. Joseph p. Hoar commander of the . Central come told the House armed services committee. Iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein who has been a intransigent and uncooperative in complying with . Resolutions passed in the Wake of the persian Gulf War will again be Able to pose an Hoar offensive military threat a within the next five years a Hoar said. At the same time Iran is working forcefully to position itself As the big gun in the Region the general said. A a Iran a potential is clearly growing Quot he noted. Iranian leaders have been buying Large amounts of equipment from the former soviet republics since 1989 As Well As missile patrol boats from China Hoar said. Most alarming from a terrorist perspective Iran is seeking to Purchase at least three miniature submarines from Russia an Effort that if successful would bring a an entirely new dimension to the threat posed by the Radical Tehran regime Hoar said. Additionally North Korea is suspected of Selling scud missiles to Iran. Hoar faced pointed questions from lawmakers about How a North korean cargo ship suspected of carrying scuds eluded a Large . Military search and slipped into an iranian port undetected monday. Hoar accepted full responsibility for the mishap. A we were unable to locate that ship Clear and simple a he said. _ but the general added it is unclear what the United states could have done had the Navy found the ship since there is no embargo on Iran As there is on Iraq. Hoar stressed that the United states does not want to go it alone in shouldering Security responsibility for the Region. To that end the Central come is encouraging joint military exercises with persian Gulf nations to help them develop their military forces and Foster a regional Security framework he said. The command has plans for 86 combined exercises with military forces from Gulf nations this year. Hoar said the number of such exercises has increased a a fivefold since the War ended. A we done to run exercises in the Region if they re not combined a Hoar said. Quot we have to show that we re there to help them not to fight for them while they hold our the commands presence in the Region is drastically reduced from the height of the War when More than half a million troops were in theater for the War against Iraq. Today the Central come forces in the Middle East consist primarily of ships. A total of 22 ships Are in the persian Gulf the Gulf of Oman and the Northern arabian sea including the aircraft Carrier America three cruisers and four destroyers. Another five vessels a two destroyers two frigates and an auxiliary ship a Are patrolling the red sea. Navy and Marine corps personnel on those ships number about 17,000, according to Pentagon officials. Additionally there Are about 8,000 army and air Force personnel on the ground in the area most of them in saudi Arabia. The current Force Structure includes a composite air Wing and a Patriot missile defense network. The brigade sized army element of about 3,500 soldiers drawn from units in Europe a a Force that had been placed in Kuwait As a a Security presence following the postwar demobilization a returned Home a some time before Christmas a Hoar said. In the near future Hoar said he will establish a Small Forward Headquarters in the Middle East at a site yet to be determined to provide his commands Home base at Macdill fab fla., with a More direct link to the clothes woes come out in Wash by John Millar Wurzburg Bureau Wurzburg Germany . Soldiers with units in Southern Germany who had uniforms and sheets locked up for two Days because a government cleaning contract expired can now get their clothes Back but there is no Assurance they will be clean. Laundry turned into More than 30 quartermaster laundry pickup Points in Southeastern Germany was held for two Days after a government contract expired at Midnight sunday. The contractor Pacific architectural engineering a Mph closed its laundry facility at Faulenburg Cavern in Wurzburg on monday morning a Locking up thousands of uniforms sheets and other items and Locking out 160 employees. The laundry ended All operations for two Days As laundry employees worried about their Job status. A . Army Europe news release wednesday said the army is a taking aggressive action to ensure continued laundry support to soldiers in the the command does not expect a similar laundry problem to occur in areas under v corps and the 21st theater army area come according to the release. Laundry was being taken to other facilities under existing contracts the release said. American forces network announced earlier this week that customers can retrieve their laundry at pickup Points Between 11 . And 2 . Daily but reported that some of those clothes May be dirty. The Usa eur news release said the government had sought a contract Extension with the company that would have provided fewer services. The contract Extension would have called for a reduced operation which would have meant laying off employees. The government was concerned about liability for Severance pay. A the contractor insisted on full reimbursement of Severance pay Quot the release said. A under . Law full reimbursement is not allowable if the Severance pay exceeds amounts typically paid to employees providing similar service in the .,�?� thus a the government could not agree to the contractors Heinz Bertram director of contracts for Pacific architectural engineering in Frankfurt said wednesday that the army a contract Extension proposal would Force the company to Lay off As Many As half its quartermaster laundry employees. He said German Law requires companies that Lay off More than 10 people to provide those employees with some Type of mass Severance pay. But a according to our interpretation of the German labor Law. When the contract expired the Plant reverted to its original owner which is the army a he said. A it is our position that the employees became employees of the army As of Midnight sunday. The contractor is taking a Calm deliberate approach to solving the dispute through the German courts Bertram said. A a we re not trying to hype or escalate this thing. We have other contracts with the army and we done to want to alienate a Pae in Germany is part of Pacific architectural engineering inc. Of los Angeles. Bertram said Pae holds maintenance contracts for . Bases in Spain and Greece and the . Embassy in Moscow. The 160 laundry employees 68 of whom Are american want their jobs Back. They have gone with their Union to the German labor courts to find out who will pay them Bertram Europe Rife with risks Admiral says by Vince Crawley Staft writer ge1lenkirchen, Germany the breakup of the soviet military threat has left a splintered world of risks says the . Navy Stop commander in Europe. The word Quot threat still conjures up cold War image k in a red capital letters a said . Jeremy a a Mike Gorda. A i prefer to think about the Southern Region now in terms of Boorda 52, is also the commander of natos Allied forces Southern Europe. He was one of three deputies who accompanied Gen. John r. Galvin supreme Allied commander Europe to Capitol Hill last week in an Effort to persuade the Senate armed services committee that the United states needs to keep 150,000 american troops in Europe after 1995. A i was a Little surprised and. Pleased with that hearing a Boorda said in an interview with the stars and stripes on tuesday. A i sensed a great Deal of support from the senators. In trying to understand what the men and women of the armed services and their families Are going through during the the hearing reinforced that a it would be premature to make any faster reductions Quot to Overall strength Boorda said tuesday at the nato air base in Geilen Kirchen. Quot the Issue is what is a reasonable american presence Here a How much influence and participation do we want to have Here in nato a said Boorda who like Galvin worked his Way up from the enlisted ranks. A does the world come to an end if there Are 149,990? or is it appreciably better if its 150,010? that would be silly a the Admiral said. However around 150,000 troops on land and sea and in the air is a what it takes to have a coherent Force one that makes Boorda less than 150,000 a Means less presence less influence less american participation in nato and less is a certainly not Good m the Southern Region Quot Boorda said. He summed up some of the Many risks facing Southern Europe a a extremism a where people who Are poor who done to see a Good future who perhaps done to have All the things they need for even a minimal Quality Standard of living. Adopt a very extremist position and that extremist position is generally a Many Borders in the Southern Region Are artificial Boodram said. A a they re Borders that came at the end of wars. They were negotiated settlements. And they divided Peoples. And they divided religions. And they took Long standing territory that belonged to one people and gave it to another a Boorda said. A is that a risk you just have to look at Armenia and Azerbaijan. You Only Nave to look at Yugoslavia. Or what was a in regard to Oil a you have to Only look at the Oil flow through the Suez canal through the Mediterranean into Europe. And to our own country a Boorda said. A the risk of economic problems with a disruption of Oil flow is a real the persian Gulf War was an example of what happens when too Many risks add up Boorda said. A think about Iraq for a minute a Boorda said. A who thought Iraq was going to happen. They were a risk that became a threat. Iraqis invasion of Kuwait on aug. 2, 1990, involved Border disputes religious differences extremism and Oil Boorda pointed out. A there in one Little Day on the 2nd of August you saw All those risks come together and become a big threat a he said. A now i would just ask anybody who reads the stars and stripes a did you do a Good Job of predicting those risks becoming a threat a a unless there a some Genius out there who has yet to come Forward the answer is a no a a the Admiral said. A and so my next question to you is a Well How Good Are you at predicting the next one a a
