European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 20, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday october 20, 1994 the stars and stripes Page 3 Gulf from Page 1 Pendleton calif., but 2,000 marines re main afloat off the kuwaiti coast Redd said. Military officials said late wednes Day that the shipboard marines have can celeb All scheduled training exercises ashore including an amphibious assault operation planned for this morning. The army has about 4,000 troops in Kuwait and is going ahead with plans to deploy an additional 4,000 to 5,000 sol Diers to saudi Arabia where they will draw pre positioned equipment As part of a training exercise. . Officials have not yet released a timetable for army withdrawals and senior kuwaitis said they would like the Al lies to maintain As Strong a Force As Possi ble in the theater. The kuwaitis they did a hell of a Job getting their people up to the front and creating a Buffer air Force master sgt. Guy Wright said at Kuwait City s air port. But americans and kuwaitis agree that the Oil Rich country with a Popula Tion of about 650,000 citizens and an army of fewer than 20,000 is too Small to hold Back iraqi forces on its own. It seems that we would have a Pru Dent sized Force Over Here it. Col. Ron Peck commander of the 621st air Mobil Ity control so said of the . Military presence in Kuwait. The politicians will decide How to organize the requirements so we Don t have to come Back Peck Cornman ded 150 air Force Logis Ticia Ris at the Kuwait City Airport during the first 10 Days of the crisis. Because of the reduced deployment Peck and about half of the air Force logistics Force left for the United states late tuesday. The massing of two iraqi Republican guard divisions two weeks ago in South Ern Iraq caught Allied and american forces largely by Surprise. . Ground troops had completed a two month train ing exercisers Days before the crisis and the George Washington had just de parted from the Gulf so its aircraft could patrol the skies of Bosnia and Herzegovina.  " ". Both the soldiers and the Navy aviators were dispatched Back to Kuwait within Days after the iraqi troops movements were discovered. The 2,000 marines were in exercises in the United Arab emirates in the Southern Gulf and reached kuwaiti Waters within 48 hours. Republican guard troops interviewed by Cable news network backed up iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein s claim that he had no intention of replaying his August 1990 invasion of Kuwait but americans remain unconvinced it was a training exercise. This was not a sunday afternoon Pic Nic one american official said of the Vav xxx. A a pfc. Michael James with the 24th inf div Mech digs a foxhole while a Man herds his camels to a watering Hole in the Northern kuwaiti desert wednesday. Iraqi deployment. This was a Clear movement that was not by  the american and Allied coalition is re evaluating the air patrol Over Southern Iraq called Southern watch to deter mine How Large a Force is needed to enforce . Resolution 949, which excludes Republican guards from moving South of the 32nd parallel. Redd speaking aboard the George Washington said the Navy s newest car Rier brings a tremendous amount of air Power particularly tailored to the mis Sion or enforcing the Resolution. Tanks move at a certain Speed and aircraft move much faster Redd said. This is a great area for tactical air. This is Good Tarn killing  he noted that local commanders will not have the authority to engage Iraq tanks. The decision will never be made on the ground. It will be made in Washington he said. Sitting on boxes of unloaded military cargo at Kuwait City Airport tuesday air Force maj. Jeff Eisenberg said he is glad the deployment is slowing and in some cases reversing. I like to think it s because we won the War that did t happen said Eisenberg. " -. ". Is Ken George airmen 1st class Paul Inge so left and Jerry Covington and senior airman Curtis of the 621steropovt so out of Mcguire Hart of the 621st Aerial port so from Mcguire fab ., relax wednesday after off " loading supplies near Kuwait s ,  The other Guy  Kuwait wants its captured citizens backs a Ken George Ahmad y. Bayer Al Abdalla. Happiness incomplete by Vince Crawley staff writer Kuwait City Kuwait a Trace of diplomatic disappointment caught in the voice of Ahmad y. Bayer Al Abdalla third ranking member of parliament As he spoke of Kuwait s approximately 625 prisoners of War still listed As missing in action. I still remember or. Bush s speech the first Day of March 1991 Bayer said wednesday afternoon in his offices at the Kuwait National Assembly. He said they will not withdraw the  army from Iraq and will not sign a peace treaty with Iraq unless All prisoners return.". Iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein set free nearly All his persian Gulf War prisoners which satisfied a delicate Allied coalition that wanted to Send its troops Home from the desert before the flush of Victory faded. Now that american forces have re turned to the Gulf to quell the october crisis along the Border kuwaitis Hope the world s interest will be renewed in a pow Mia tragedy that leaves few untouched in the tiny Oil Rich country. The number is Small but the ratio to the total population is quite Large said Bayer who Heads the parliamentary committee on detainees missing and the welfare of the martyrs families. In this nation of 650,000 citizens there is one Mia per 1,000 people. That Cou pled with the Muslim nation s culture of extended families Means few kuwaiti citizens have escaped the tragedy. He has met with . Vietnam Veter ans concerned about America s pos and mias in Southeast Asia and he said the two groups have very similar Active  according to kuwaiti government Fig ures the pos comprise 617 men and eight women 558 Kuwait citizens and 67 foreigners who had been living in Kuwait 483 of the missing Are civilians. Some Are As Young As 16. Most were captured in August and september of 1990, the first two months following the iraqi occupation of Kuwait. Bayer himself was captured while praying at a mosque and was held As human shield for More than two weeks As Iraq retreated from advancing coalition forces. Former prisoners like Bayer said the iraqis kept exact records Oil prisoners and had twice daily Roll Calls. Each person is known exactly Bayer said. It is difficult to imagine that they just  Saddam insists that his country has no such prisoners. He also insisted for seven years that he had no prisoners from the Iran Iraq War yet he released thousands of iranians in 1990 in order to make amends with Iran before the persian Gulf War. This matter is very important for kuwaitis he said. Until now we Don t feel our happiness of the liberation is completed until we have our sons and Daugh ters