Santa Cruz Sentinel from Santa Cruz, California • Page 9

Santa Cruz Sentinel Friday, Jan. 18, 1991 A-9 "Tl Persian Gulf war nnnnn I A on srae First minutes Local time in Iraq, mm. If retaliation does come, how will Arabs react? U.S. Jets begin taking oft from Saudi bases, bound for Iraq L2M Reporters in Baghdad hear 1 Political moves begun to allow J'Ss'Lr, U.S. arxllWTO jets at Turkish 1 bto operate oWensively High-levelV Chemical, nuclear I 4.MoSlf35 bombing or biological SYRIA I warfare facilities 1 JLl 1 delende1 by antt- Conventional fr.c,an weapons plant.

Chemical, biOloglcaK tyr out of reach of I 1 KfyA.i delenoers Air bases and nuclear weapons I SBr I Oil refineries facilities jS Baghdad SinoledoutbyU.S.aseariy Air raids reported 100 mil" targets for air attack. 1 V. I on targets around WOkSp" city; direct hits I Jt scored on Defense anti-aircraft fire Analysis Most first-wave jets due to be over their targets in Iraq White House spokesman Marlin Rtzwater announces that "the liberation of Kuwait has begun" I VJV 1 President Bush I gives 12-minute televised speech on the purpose of the attack I Tomahawk lis A wave of cruise missiles launched at the start of the attack from U.S. Navy ships strike precisely at targets too dangerous to send piloted planes against. I- Iraqi air force Reported to have been 50 percent destroyed on the ground.

Coalition pilots say they met no resistance from Iraqi Jets. Iraqis claim to have downed 76 coalition jets, but U.S. says three planes were lost. Defensive lines Carrier-based jets Navy pilots first fly their jets to land bases in Saudi Arabia before launching Extensively fortified triple-deep defensive positions erected by Iraq along Saudi border to repel ground attack. U.S.

and Saudi officials report ground forces have taken up positions closer to Kuwaiti border. missions against Iraq BAHRAIN SAUDI ARABIA A Refinery attack Iraqi rockets and artillery strike minor refinery near Kuwait border Day One: Allied onslaught SI qatar against Iraq's air By THOMAS FRIEDMAN The New York Times WASHINGTON The Iraqi missile attack on Israel could seriously complicate Washington's strategy in the Persian Gulf war. Much depends on whether Israel retaliates and if it does whether any of Washington's Arab allies bolt the anti-Iraq coalition. President Bush said Thursday night that he was "outraged" at the attack, and American officials appealed to the Israelis to limit any reaction so as not to play into the hands of the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein. Secretary of State James A.

Baker 3rd, working at the White House alongside Bush, immediately called the ambassadors of Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Baker was understood to be trying to encourage the Israelis not to engage in any large-scale retaliation that might be used by Iraq to transform the gulf war into an Arab-Israeli conflict. Late Thursday night, Israel's ambassador in Washington, Zalman Shoval, said at a news conference that Israel "reserves the right to respond in any way it deems fit," but he declined to specify what his government would do next. He pointed out, however, that Israel, in an effort to accommodate the United States, had refrained from launching a pre-emptive strike against the Iraqi missile batteries and had now paid the prje. Apparently in the hope of limiting any Israeli response, Pentagon officials said American fighter-bombers had been scrambled from bases in Turkey to attack the Iraqi batteries that hit Israel.

Some administration analysts suggested that the Iraqi attack on Israel would put even more pressure on the Pentagon to intensify the aerial bombardment of Iraq and to destroy its armed forces quickly. At the same time, Baker appealed to the Egyptian, Syrian, and Saudi ambassadors to live up to the agreements their leaders reached with him last week not to drop out of the anti-Iraq coalition if Iraq made an unprovoked attack on Israel and Israel felt it necessary to respond. The fact that Iraq attacked Israel and Saudi Arabia with missiles at the same time, almost treating them as equals, may make it much easier for Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations to tolerate an Israeli response. The White House spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, said in a statement shortly before 7 p.m. PST: "The Department of Defense has confirmed the firing of missiles from Iraq into Israel and Saudi Arabia.

"President Bush was informed of this action by National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft earlier this evening. The president is outraged at, and condemns, this further aggression by Iraq. Coalition forces in the gulf are attacking missile sites and other targets in Iraq." American officials do not want the Israelis drawn into the war for both military and political reasons. Militarily, if the Israeli Air Force begins flying air strikes against defenses Iraqi targets without coordination with the American-led multinational force, the possibility of collisions, accidental encounters and chaos in the skies would be extremely high. In addition, the Israelis would almost certainly have to violate Jordan's air space.

If Jordan were to shoot at Israeli planes with its Hawk surface-to- air missiles, or if the Israelis were to destroy the Jordanian batteries as a precaution, Jordan could be drawn into the war as well. Israel has its own long-range missiles, the Jericho, that can hit Baghdad and it may choose to use them instead of planes. Politically, Washington wants the Israelis out of the war because their entry would transform it from a conflict of Iraq vs. the world to Iraq vs. Israel.

That is precisely what President Hussein wants in order to immobilize the Arab forces fighting alongside the United States. None of Washington's major Arab allies Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt would be expected to drop out of the conflict suddenly because the Israelis respond to an unprovoked Iraqi attack. Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, said as much last week. But an Israeli response would make them highly vulnerable to Iraqi propaganda, which over time could limit their room to maneuver. The only Arab nation that might be expected to drop out of the coalition if Israel joins the war is Syria, but even that would probably depend on the extent of the Israeli retaliation.

In any event, the Syrians have already told the United States that their troops in Saudi Arabia are there for defensive purposes and their use in any offensive operations would be limited at best. Last Saturday, Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger met with Israel's prime minister, Yitzhak Shamir, in Jerusalem and the two reached an understanding on the eventuality of an Iraqi missile attack, Israeli officials said. In such an event, Israel would consult with the Bush administration before taking any action, Shamir assured Eagleburger. Shamir said that Israel had no intention of launching a pre-emptive strike against Iraq's missile batteries, but that its response to an unprovoked Iraqi attack would be based on three factors.

First, the extent of the damage that an Iraqi missile attack inflicts on Israel. In other words, an Israeli response would be determined in part by whether Iraqi missiles land harmlessly in the Mediterranean or in the heart of Israeli cities. Second, the Israeli response will be determined in part by the degree to which the U.S. Air Force is able to destroy any Iraqi missile launchers that are used to attack Israel. The key point for the Israelis is not whether they absorb a first strike, but that they do not have to absorb a second strike.

"fdL.v.v-'?VfcV.-. A typical formation Riyadh Planes reported taking off shortly before first strike. attacking an Iraqi alrbase would Include several different types of aircraft specializing In different aspects of the F-15E Eagle U.S. fighter-bomber; excels at mission Day Two: Iraqi Missiles Strike Israel Air raid sirens sounded over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv about 2:05 a.m. local time and Scud missiles bombarded several sites in Israel.

The government Immediately Instructed all people to don gas masks. high-speed low-level bombing attacks on many types of targets 1 A-6 Intruder U.S. Navy attack jet; the EA-6B electronic countermeasures version jams enemy radar systems, allowing the formation to reach targets without being spotted by Iraqi jets or missiles Mediterranean LEa SYRIA E-3 AWACS Command jet directs air operations using sophisticated on-board radar Medium range, surface-to-surface missile Length: 37 feet Diameter: 3 feet Launch weight: 7.0 tons Psylosd: One warhead, conventional or chemical Propulsion: Liquid fuel Accuracy: within 1,476 feet Range: 1 86 miles, although F-1 17 Stealth fighter-bomber Jet's extremely small visibility to radar makes it useful for surprise attacks on anti-aircraft missiles and radar stations Iraq is known to have altered some for greater range Gaza Strip JORDAN ISRAEL Scud-B on its MAZ-543 transportererector launcher vehicle Tornado GR1 Fighter-bomber flown by British, French and Saudi air forces mmm iraq EGYPT to carry "runway-buster bombs and other weapons I if 25milee 25 km. Other aircraft likely to be used in airbase attacks: U.S. F-4 Wild Weasel radar-jamming fighter-bombers; British and French Jaguar fighter-bombers; British Tornado F-3 and U.S.

FA-14 fighters for cover against enemy fighters I Source: Jane's Soviet Intelligence Review' AP Bush satisfied with results Maximum success, minimum casualties for U.S. armed forces The precision of our firepower is a story that needs to be told. In fact, we had many flights last night that did not drop their bombs because they were not absolutely certain that their bombsights were on the right Unidentified armed forces source 1 New technology lights up night -mi' The Associated Press WASHINGTON Using technology perfected in the last decade, the U.S. military can wage war from 2 the air and land as if night were day. The first fighter jets that attacked Iraq Wednesday night had space-age infrared technology, thermal sights and laser targeting systems.

1 The waves of night attacks could be duplicated on the ground, with tanks and soldiers equipped with 2 sighting systems and goggles that can see in the dark, or through dust and smoke. The F-15 Strike Eagles and F-16 Fighting Falcons fighter jets that took part in the initial waves of bombing are among the United States' most sophisti-Z cated planes and show little regard for darkness. The F-lll bombers that may have inflicted heavy damage were used in the nighttime raid on Libya in 1986. Infrared technology creates images of areas by reading the differences between the temperatures of objects and their surroundings and projecting the image on a phosphorous screen. Pilots approaching Baghdad saw something similar to a photographic negative, a yellow-green image.

On the ground, soldiers wear goggles that cost $25,000 each and magnify available light by 25,000 times through tiny glass tubes onto the screen the j- user sees. The goggles cut down on peripheral vision, but J2 were used during the midnight invasion of Panama. One model of the F-16 is called the "Night Falcon" for its advanced night-flying capability, according to the authoritative Jane's All the World's Aircraft pub- lication. It has "pods" mounted underneath the front part of the fighter which hold LANTIRN systems, for low altitude navigation and targeting infrared night. The later models have an up-to-date infrared sys-Stem known as Falcon Eye inside the cockpit that tilts along with the movement of the pilot's head.

Last September, Maj. Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, commander of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Divi-rsion, said most of the Allied fighting would be at The Associated Press NEW YORK The success of the allied bombing barrage on Iraq, combined with the loss of just a single U.S. plane in the attack, left a satisfied President Bush in no rush to start a ground offensive, a top armed forces source told The Associated Press.

"The president is content. He doesn't want casualties. He is content to beat them from the air until they submit. And if they don't, then we'll come in with the army and the Marines," said the source who agreed to discuss the progress of the war only on condition he not be identified. The decision on if and when to commit U.S.

forces to ground action in the campaign to drive Iraq out of Kuwait had not been made by the president as of mid-day Thursday, the source told the AP. Bush OK'd the air attack Wednesday, targeting strategic sites in Iraq and Kuwait. The first allied air strike came before dawn, the second about seven hours later. The source said that while details of the strike had not been released, the mission was an apparent success. The allied forces encountered virtually no resistance from the Iraqi forces.

Part of the reason for the lack of response was the devastation inflicted by the bombings, the source continued. "We knocked out their radar, we knocked out their telephone system, we knocked out the Scud (missile) sites that were close by that we knew they had active. We have severely damaged and cratered all their taxiways and runways and put mines on their fields," he said. The bombers sent over Iraq encountered fewer than three dozen Iraqi planes in more than 1,000 sorties, he said. "We have only seen this is incredible we've only seen about 30 up to the nightfall, which just occurred.

And they have been uncontrolled They're just up there in random motion," the source continued. The source said the accuracy of the bombings was The Associated Press An F-15 fighter jet takes off under cover of darkness for a night raid on an Iraqi target. night. "All of our fighting equipment can operate at night," said McCaffrey, while the Iraqis' night-vision capability "is very marginal." Along with the goggles, each company has a guide detailing moonlight conditions for coming weeks in the region. Officers believe that when the moon is three-quarters full, the goggles create an image almost as good as normal day vision.

Iraq's Soviet-made T-72 tanks have an outmoded night-vision system but Iraqi troops have not generally fought at night, something the Allied forces trained for in their long deployment. "It's hard to shoot something that you can't see," said Brig. Gen. Granville Amos, an assistant commander of a Marine helicopter wing in Saudi Arabia said earlier in the week. "Everything else being equal, we prefer to go at night." Maj.

John Terrell, with a Marine anti-tank unit, said from a Saudi Arabian outpost near Kuwait this week that thermal sights on anti-tank weapons can lock onto targets six miles away, regardless of most conditions. "The plan here is to fire most of our missiles at night," said Terrell. The limitations of the equipment were shown, however, with several of the accidents that claimed the lives of 50 soldiers in the desert taking place in night training operations. astounding, with little damage to civilian sites and few if any civilian casualties. There were no immediate figures for deaths or casualties in Iraq.

"The precision of our firepower is a story that needs to be told. In fact, we had many flights la6t night that did not drop their bombs, precision-guided bombs, because they were not absolutely certain that their bombsights were on the right target. Many sorties did not drop, and brought 'em back. Discipline. Discipline," he said.

"There are lessons in this war. One is we don't have any sanctuaries. We can go out after the right targets, sever the leadership and the command and control. "Secondly, we are not attacking any civilian targets. On the civilian side, Baghdad seems to be ppef-ating as usual," the source said..