European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 14, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday october 14, 1994 persian Gulf the stars and stripes Page 5france leery of . Policy on Iraq by yell Lam Drozdiak. Washington Post Paris a France has challenged the motives behind . Policy toward Iraq suggesting that the rapid deployment of american troops to protect Kuwait May have been triggered by Domestic political considerations rather than the actual military threat. Frances scepticism constituted a discordant note in International opinion on the latest persian Gulf crisis. Turkey and russian like France a Are eager to secure new commercial deals with Iraq and oppose further punitive action that could Lead to its dismemberment. But most Western and Arab states appear More determined than Ever to Block Saddam Hussein. A. A a French defense minister Francois Leotard speaking after a weekly Cabinet meeting on wednesday said he believed the massive buildup of american forces in the Gulf following the dispatch of elite iraqi divisions toward the Southern Frontier with Kuwait a was not unconnected to Domestic  France does not have its own satellite intelligence and must rely on proof supplied by the United states to verify iraqi troop movements. On the basis of what France has seen Leotard indicated that the Clinton administrations threat to Send As Many As 200,000 troops to the Gulf was rooted More in november a con Gressional elections a in which the democrats Are expected to take a pounding a than in the real danger posed by the recent deployment of iraqi forces close to the kuwaiti Border. \ Leotard also insisted that Iraq does not appear to have violated International Law. A there is nothing illegal in the movement of iraqi forces inside Iraq a he said. A there is nothing that violates United nations  a a earlier French foreign minister Alain Juppo criticized a . Proposal to create a a land exclusion zone along iraqis Southern Frontier that would prohibit iraqi troops and heavy weapons near the Border with Kuwait. Later in the Day Washington modified its proposal so that the zone would apply Only to Iraq s Republican guard and France expressed satisfaction. The Western allies already have imposed a no Fly zones to prevent iraqi aircraft from launching attacks against kurdish rebels in the North and shiite Muslim insurgents in the  May Hope for Carter assist Schwarzkopf says by the new York times Birmingham Ala. A the Allied commander in the persian Gulf in 1991 says the most Likely explanation for Saddam Hussein a tactics is a the Jimmy Carter factors the Hope that a crisis could bring in the former president As a mediator and that Iraq could get a better Deal from Carter than it has got from the Bush and Clinton administrations. Asked about his old foe after a speech in Birmingham on tuesday night the commander retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf said the iraqi troop move Mensin Southern Iraq May have been nothing More than routine exercises. But he said there were More troops than Normal for Basic Maneu vers. A then there a the question of the sanctions against Iraq a he continued. A Saddam perhaps because he is such a megalomaniac is trying to intimidate the United nations into lifting those  a the most plausible reason however is the Jimmy Carter Factor a a he said a probably Saddam Hussein has seen compromises being made in North Korea and in Haiti. A to him if you Compromise with him you lose. So he sends his troops Down then pulls them Back and says a look How Nice in be been. Now Send Jimmy Carter in to fix  a Schwarzkopf defended president Bush s decision three years ago to halt ground operations against Iraq after 100 hours. Many critics note that this left the iraqi army battered but not broken and left Saddam in charge. A there Are plenty of people now with 20-20 Hindsight who say we should not have left him in Power a the general said. But the goal was to get Iraq out of Kuwait a and everyone understood that from the generals on Down to the Buck  troops deployed to Gulf will get break on tax Washington apr the american service members dispatched to defend Kuwait will get a break on their income taxes because the formal designation of the persian Gulf area As a combat zone was never dropped after the 1991 persian Gulf War. Technically the .-led action that expelled iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991 called operation desert storm a never ended a Pentagon spokesman said. An executive order ending the operation was never issued he said. As a1 result enlisted personnel among the 63,500 troops who the defense department said tuesday Are in route or scheduled to go to the Gulf will not Jive to pay Federal taxes on income earned during their deployment the spokesman said. Officers get a partial exemption he said. All . Military personnel sent to the Gulf will receive hazardous duty pay of $150 a month even if they there for less than a full month he said. Members of the Media crowd around . Marines staged the desert practice. Despite the withdrawal of during an assault exercise North of Kuwait City on iraqi troops from an area along the country s Border thursday. Marines from Camp Pendleton calif., with Kuwait the buildup of american troops continues. Kuwaitis scorn iraqi threat As contempt replaces fear a the . Troops in Haiti get the same hazardous duty pay but their income is not tax-exempu5ecause Haiti is not a designated combat zone the spokesman said. By Mort Rosenblum a special correspondent Kuwait a if the iraqis Are coming they had better bring their wallets and get ready to wait in traffic. Unimpressed by Saddam Hussein a bluster and shielded by Strong allies Kuwait is in no mood to be invaded again. A four years ago iraqi Armor blitzed Kuwait before anyone could believe what was happening. This time people think the iraqis blitzed themselves. A Shah a snorted Ibrahim Beraiah squatting in the Sun by an iridescent Tiger Woven into a Rug at his a Mubarak Yia Market stall. A i have done nothing to get ready. For what this Saddam he has no  at the posh Salh Yia shopping Center Dursun Ataman was Busy collecting hefty deposits from her regulars for Louis Vuitton purses expected from Paris. A we Are All concerned but no one is scared a she said. A would people spend like this if they were going to flee we re completely convinced that nothing will  in the Shumaik District where foreign workers cart the Cement and steel that add fresh Glitz to this rebuilt emirate Assif Kasmi a Young Indian carried his Bossy Money to the Bank. A we Are relaxed a Kasmi said. Along the Border a few kuwaiti jeeps and dug in tanks Dot the open desert waiting with no great trepidation for reinforcement by . Forces. When iraqi troops headed for the Border last week a Panicky shudder of Tya Vul enveloped the 700,000 kuwaitis and 900,000 foreigners who live in what Saddam Calls his occupied 19th state. Supermarket sales doubled for canned goods baby food and flashlight batteries. Four wheel drive vehicles lined up at the filling stations to be ready for a wild ride to saudi Arabia. A Banner headline in the Kuwait times sounded the alarm a nation on maximum Alert As enemy turns mad  the Crown Prince said in a broadcast speech a Welcome martyrdom a but Confidence returned As the cavalry arrived from the United states Britain and France. Old fears were replaced by visions of iraqi tanks exploding on the desert like ducks at a shooting gallery. At night Kuwait shimmers with enough candlepower to Blind Las vegas. Saddam s scare has filled hotels with free spending journalists who have rented every jeep and Mobile phone in town. A whatever he had in mind it backfired a said Shulan Primavera the philippine ambassador. As desert shield geared up toward desert storm in 1991, Kuwait a ruling family no cd up at the Sheraton hotel in the saudi resort of taif. Now White Robed officials sweep into the Kuwait Sheraton for a nightly briefing on business As usual in a High tech min state that pumps 2 million barrels of Oil a Day