U.S. military spokesmen Wednesday walked a wavering line between high confidence and high caution over the chances for swift success by their ground troops in the eye of Desert Storm.
The day`s skirmishes included one along the Saudi border with Kuwait in which one American was killed and seven were wounded. In another battle, in which ”bunker-busting” techniques may give clues to how a ground war might proceed, more than a dozen Iraqi fortifications north of the Saudi border were destroyed and 450 to 500 Iraqi troops were captured.
The mass surrender, the most prisoners taken by the U.S. in a single engagement of the war, came a day after the allied commander, Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, had said that ”Iraq`s military is hurting and hurting very badly. . . . Our assessment of them is that they are on the verge of collapse.”
But Marine Brig. Gen. Richard Neal said during a briefing in Washington,
”I`m not ready to say that, as an armed force, the Iraqis are ready to drop all their weapons and come forward.”
”The general`s (Schwarzkopf`s) words speak for themselves,” said another U.S. officer in Saudi Arabia, while another noted that the general had ”caveated” his comments by saying the Iraqis remained formidable and he
”would not take the enemy force for granted.”
Another official said, ”There are (Iraqi) units that are attrited to the point where those that are left, if they could make it through their own minefields, or if not for fear of what would happen to their families, would probably desert, virtually en masse.”
He added, however, that, ”There are a substantial number of units where that`s simply not true,” specifically citing the Republican Guards.
Later Wednesday at the Pentagon, Lt. Gen. Thomas Kelly was asked about Schwarzkopf`s statement and said, ”It`s not my assessment.” He quickly added that he did not disagree with Schwarzkopf`s overall comments.
Kelly noted that he had told reporters on Tuesday that any ground war would be over ”in short order” with an allied victory, but ”I should have said good order. I don`t think it`s going to be any kind of pushover. . . . I think we will be efficient . . . but it`s not going to be a snap.”
The raid that helped fuel questions of how willing the Iraqis may be for a fight came about 2 a.m. Wednesday Saudi time. It was conducted by two AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships and two lighter OH-58 scout helicopters. Apaches, in addition to a 30 mm chain gun in the turret under the fuselage, can carry 16 Hellfire missiles or 76 rockets. Some OH-58s do spotter and laser-designation work for Hellfires and other precision-guided munitions, and others are equipped with Stinger missiles.
”I think they had previous knowledge that there might be a bunker complex out there, and they were going out there to destroy it,” Neal said.
Neal said 13 to 15 bunkers were destroyed, and no Americans were captured or hurt.
Throughout the afternoon, as Apache helicopters kept guard, giant American CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters ferried Iraqi prisoners of war to holding areas in Saudi Arabia.
The security forces with the Chinooks were the first American ground troops to be acknowledged as operating well inside enemy territory.
The effectiveness of the attack confirmed what American officials called the ”bunker-busting” abilities of U.S. forces, a key element in any major allied land advance.
The surrender may provide fresh information for the American forces about the morale and condition of their enemy. Most of the Iraqi prisoners and defectors have been taken by Saudi and other Arab forces, and the Saudis have barred U.S. military officials from directly questioning them.
British Col. Barry Stevens said afterward that the mass surrender to four helicopters unaccompanied by ground troops indicated that the ”(Iraqi) unit had very low morale.” But he warned that this might not be true of other Iraqi units.
Meanwhile, the continuing border skirmishes claimed the life of one American soldier and wounded seven others during an artillery duel Wednesday afternoon in which the U.S. forces captured seven Iraqi soldiers and claimed to destroy five Iraqi tanks and 20 artillery pieces.
U.S. ground patrols are now regularly crossing the 7-foot sand berms into the no man`s land between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait hunting for Iraqi reconnaissance teams. A U.S. Army patrol engaged an Iraqi patrol of 10 to 12 soldiers and an armored personnel carrier Tuesday night, destroying the vehicle with a TOW anti-tank missile, American officials said.
Also, tactical aircraft are roaming more deeply into Iraqi-held territory to hit both troops and their forward support positions. For instance, waves of U.S. ground-atttack planes repeatedly struck a concentration of about 300 Iraqi vehicles about 60 miles north of the border. The attacks destroyed 28 tanks, 26 vehicles, three artillery pieces and three ammunition storage dumps, according to the military command.
And in the continuing fight against Iraqi missiles, the U.S. called in a B-52 bomber strike against the area from which a Scud was launched against Israel Tuesday night. An F-15 pilot on ”Scudbuster” patrol saw the Scud missile rise through the clouds over western Iraq but was unable to pinpoint the launch site.
In all, U.S. and allied aircraft Wednesday flew more than 2,900 sorties, the most in several days despite unfavorable weather over some targets.
The British reported that a 1,000-pound laser-guided bomb from a Royal Air Force Tornado jet hit an airfield ammunition bunker producing what they called the largest explosion seen so far.
U.S. commanders said Wednesday they have evidence Iraq plans to use chemical weapons in response to an allied ground assault, forcing troops to fight in gas masks and bulky gear.
Officials said POWs and other intelligence sources indicate that Iraqi division commanders have been issued various types of chemical rounds with authority to use them at will.
But officials said the troops are ready to move if President Bush makes the decision to launch the ground war to drive Iraqi troops from Kuwait. American and allied infantry, armored and amphibious forces are in position for what one American military officer said would be a ”very bold and audacious” offensive to overwhelm Iraqi forces with ”speed and shock and firepower.”
In planning the ground offensive, American military officials are hoping that the show of overwhelming force, speed and air power will lead to similar surrenders among many of Saddam Hussein`s front-line units. But U.S. officials are less certain about whether Hussein`s Republican Guard, his best equipped and trained corps, will give up so easily.
American officials said there have been some intelligence reports suggesting some defections among the Republican Guard, with some of the troops heading north. But other senior officers steered away from such a generalization, noting that Iraqi border patrols are swapping fire nightly with coalition forces.
In Baghdad, Iraqi Information Minister Latif Jassim ridiculed the idea that the Iraqi military was near collapse.
Jassim said Schwarzkopf`s remarks were designed to ”patch up the battered morale” of his own troops. ”Our fires will burn whomever among these immoral dwarfs of the aggressive alliance wishes to try his luck,” he said.
