The Galveston Daily News from Galveston, Texas • Page 17

SATURDAY MORNING, JANUARY 19,1991 THE GALVESTON DAILY NEWS 7-B Operation Desert Storm Captured U.S. pilots i likely would be exploited Associated Press WASHINGTON The downing jof allied'planes in the air attacks on Iraq raises the specter of Amer' ican pilots being paraded before television cameras as prized pris- oners of propaganda. Not since the Vietnam War has the United States been subjected to the video imagery of its military forces on display in wartime cap; tivity, as some experts expect Sad- 'dam Hussein, given the chance, would do. "If they don't use them, that would indicate they have not cap- 'tured any," said Hamid Mowlana, professor of international relations at American University and a stu- dent of the psychology of the Mid; die East. The nation has had repeated en' counters with Americans held hos- tage and witnessed the grisly display of charred American bodies after the failed rescue attempt in Iran a decade ago.

But the sight of pilots and soldiers, alive and in chains, poses a unique psychological weapon for an enemy in the TV age. McCain "Knowing the way Saddam Hussein is, I would fully anticipate a captured pilot to be brought before cameras, since they've already started thus lying campaign about how many planes were shot down," said Sen. John Peering Through the Blackness of a Battlefield at Night Soldiers, sailors and aircrews who must see arid fight in the dark use complex night sighting.equipment that makes the most of dim or infrared light. Amplifying dim light anne ate IPhosjihor screen! U.S. leads in night sighting The U.S.

and its allies are said to have the best low-light and infrared sighting gear in the world, such as these Holographic One- Tube light amplifying goggles. This equipment gives the coalition a major edge over Iraq in night battles. Low-light sighting equipment captures reflected visible light too dim for the unaided human eye to see clearly, and electronically displays a brightened image somewhat iikeJhe viewfinder on a home video camera, with magnification. Infrared in total darkness Eyepiece 11 scanne mirror Infrared light cannot be seen by the human eye, but almost everything emits some, even in pitch dark. An electronic sensor "sees" the infrared and shows a matching LED display of visible light to the user.

Infrared brightness of objects is related to their temperature, so it helps spot warm things like motors and people. Source: U.S. Army Center for Night Vision Electro-Optics Jordanian parliament spits bile at America P. Hernandez War serves as live laboratory for newest high-tech weapons Associated Press AMMAN, Jordan Jordan's parliament on Friday strongly denounced allied attacks on Iraq and called on Arab and Islamic nations to strike out against the United States and its coalition partners? It was the strongest official stand taken by Jordan since Iraq invaded Kuwait last August. Jordan has not formally endorsed either side, but has been shown increasing sympathy toward neighboring Iraq.

Throughout the Middle East and North Africa on Friday, Muslim fundamentalists welcomed Iraq's missile attack on Israel and the beginning of what they perceived to be a long-awaited holy war. Israel's Arab neighbors waited tensely to see if the Jewish state would respond. In Mauritania, soldiers and police fired tear gas to disperse about 20,000 demonstrators chanting "Death to America!" and "Muslims have to defend Iraq!" Tens of thousands of fundamentalists marched in Algeria, demanding the government train volunteers to fight alongside Iraq. Jordan's parliament voted unanimously in favor of a resolution that branded the allied air assault on Iraq "brutal aggression not only against the brotherly Iraqi people but against all Arab and Muslim nations." Sixty-six of the chamber's 80 members were present for the emergency session. call on all the Arab and the nations to strike at American interests and the interests of those nations participating in the aggression against Iraq," the resolution said.

It added that the United States "is entering in a fight of its choosing with aU Arab and Muslim nations." The resolution called on the Arab members-of the multinational force "to stop this aggression and seek to resolve the crisis within an Arab and Muslim framework." Foreign Minister Taher Masri, who is a member of parliament but left before the vote, said: "We're not supposed to do this. I don't think it is a wise resolution." There was no immediate comment from the palace of King Hussein, who has delicately straddled the fence in the gulf conflict. The resolution was not specific about what it meant by "American interests," but that is the standard phrase used in the Arab world for anything connected to the United States. Many residents of Jordan and Syria feared Israeli retaliation for the Iraqi missile attack could bring about the Middle East's fifth Arab-Israeli shooting war in 43 years. (HEALTH INSURANCE lo twtp pay CALL MENBT FKUDBINK IM.ACBta,IMC.

MMAn.S. fl.7*4-7! 11 CIMctarm Company Horn. (loom- InjIMl. Illindii McCain, a former Navy i pilot who spent years as a pris- oner of war in North Vietnam. "I would think it's possible they would try the same as the Vietnamese did, to get statements from these prisoners condemning then" country," McCain said.

"I think he would try to use it as a tool making them 'We were instructed to bomb i schools and the same J. -As the air war continued military officials said at least seven planes, including some with 'two-man crews, had been lost, eluding U.S., British, Italian and fighters. CNN reported Iraq's minister of 'information said that American pi- ilots had been captured and that re; porters would be allowed to meet jwith them. Yahya M. Sadowski, a Middle 'East expert at the Brookings Insti- said' that while Saddam may display any U.S.

prisoners, he be more interested in pressing them for tactical information 'than in short-term propaganda. If a ground, war erupts, the potential would exist for larger numbers of prisoners on both sides and could pose logistical problems for Iraq in handling them. U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia include military police whose sole. assignment is detaining Iraqis that may be captured or give up.

Army Lt. Col. Greg Pepin said in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, shortly before war broke out Wednesday that the Army's military police would be in charge of handling POWs. American soldiers have all un- classes preparing them for survival, escape, evasion and capture as prisoners of war, said Lt. Col.

Joseph Allred, an Army spokesman. The U.S. code of conduct for American prisoners has been altered over the years, he said, but requires that they evade answers beyond name, rank, serial number and date of birth. Journalists flee Baghdad by auto, jar rive in Jordan Press NEW YORK Ten journalists Cable News Network, The Associated Press and the Canadian Corp. entered Jor- in a four-car Friday after driving from Baghdad.

CNN said five of its eight personnel based in Baghdad had left the Iraqi capital with four CBC journalists and one from the AP. Their convoy took Iraq's main highway to the border crossing at Trebil, CNN said. The network identified its personnel as Bernard Shaw, Mark Biello, Ingrid Formanek, John Holliman and Kris Krizmanich. AP reporter Dilip Ganguly and the CBC crew, Eric Rankin, Brian Denike, Hans Vanderzande and Christopher Davies, also traveled to Jordan. The departure of Shaw and Holliman leaves Peter Arnett as the sole CNN reporter in the besieged Iraqi capital.

Associated Press WASHINGTON A U.S. Patriot missile destroys an Iraqi rocket roaring toward American troops in Saudi Arabia. Tomahawk cruise missiles pass their first battle test with flying colors. Stealth fighters streak in and out of Iraq "before the antiaircraft even comes on." The sands and skies of the Middle East are serving as a live laboratory for some of America's newest high-tech weapons of war. "There has never been a case in a wartime situation in which such ingenuity and performance have come together," Sen.

Richard L'u- gar, said Friday after a briefing from Pentagon officials. The full picture of how the most sophisticated U.S. developed over 20 years at the cost of hundreds of billions of dollars is not yet clear. But military leaders say U.S. technology has been a decisive edge in battle.

"It has been, in some respects, a technology war," Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of all U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf area, said Thursday from his headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The power of high-tech weaponry made its mark from the opening minutes of the war. Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from Navy warships in the gulf and the Red Sea helped kick off the aerial assault by flying undetected into Iraq to hit key targets such as storage sites for Iraqi surface-to-air ballistic missiles.

The Tomahawks, which had never been used in combat, proved so accurate that, after a flight of hundreds of miles, they were able to blow up concrete-reinforced aircraft shelters deep inside Iraq by entering the bunker through the side door, a military source said. The computer system on board the Tomahawk is so sophisticated that the unmanned, 18-foot missile can change its course in flight to correct for unmapped obstacles. The high-tech weaponry being unleashed on Iraq is sprinkled throughout the American arsenal, including: Patriot air defense missiles. A single Iraqi Scud ballistic missile fired at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday night was intercepted by a Patriot marking a success for the U.S. missile's first use in combat.

The system includes a "phased- array" radar that can detect targets not visible to conventional radars such as those used by Iraq. The Patriot initially was developed to shoot down enemy aircraft, not missiles. But it has been modified, mainly through improved computer systems, to defend against limited missile attacks. Air Force F-117A stealth These planes, which can deliver 2,000 pound bombs, are built with special composite materials that the Air Force claims make them impossible to detect by enemy radar. The makeup of the materials is a secret.

The stealth planes were first used in the U.S. invasion of Panama. They were among the first U.S. and allied aircraft to bomb Iraq Wednesday. Schwarzkopf on Friday showed reporters a videotape of a stealth bomber's attack on Iraq's air defense headquarters in Baghdad.

The plane's laser-guided bomb was so precise that it dropped into the concrete building through an air shaft. The building appeared to be destroyed. Night-vision goggles. These devices, worn either by helicopter pilots or ground troops, turn night into day by amplifying the light from the stars or the moon. Airborne radar.

The Air Force's Airborne Warning and Control System planes deployed in Saudi Arabia are seeing their first combat service. These modified Boeing 747s use advanced radar and air-to-ground communications to detect enemy aircraft hundreds of miles away. They act as a key link in command and control of American and allied aircraft searching for aerial targets. The Air Force's new Joint Stars surveillance system. It works in ways similar to that of the AW ACS, but it uses its radar systems to pinpoint enemy ground targets, such as troop and tank formations.

That gives important guidance to Army helicopter gun- ships and anti-tank airplanes. The only two Joint Stars planes in existence are in Saudi Arabia. They not only are new to combat; they were still in the test phase of their development when deployed early this month. Aegis anti-aircraft systems. This navy system is a network of radars and computers on board cruisers that can direct the ship's air-defense missiles at 20 enemy aircraft at the same time at a range of 70 miles.

Ml-Al tanks. This, the most modern battle tank in the U.S. arsenal, is equipped with a 120mm cannon. The gun fires an arrow- shaped metal dart designed to punch through any known tank armor at 5,000 feet per second. Electronic warfare planes, including the Navy's EA-6B Prowler, and the Air Force's EF-lllA Raven.

These aircraft have electronic jamming equipment that send out high-energy pulses to disarm or disorient enemy radar and other communications. A jamming device can send out so many false signals that the radar display is covered with bright spots, making it impossible to read any information. GALVESTON EMERGENCY MEDICAL CLINIC Emergency Medicine Industrial Medicine No Appointment 744.5541 OPEN MON. SAT. 8 6 6617 STEWART RD.

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