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Aggressive Patrolling Continues
By William Claiborne
While senior military spokesmen for the coalition forces denied allegations by Baghdad radio that the ground war had already begun, they confirmed that allied artillery batteries continued to hammer targets in Iraq and that U.S. and allied forces engaged Iraqi units in several sharp clashes along the border. In one violent engagement that featured air assaults, artillery exchanges and mortar fire, the Marines' 2nd Division killed "numerous" Iraqi soldiers, knocked out tanks and ammunition trucks and captured 81 soldiers in its fiercest battle of the war, a Marine spokesman said. He listed U.S. casualties as two Marines wounded in fighting that began Thursday morning and continued into today. "We haven't seen anything to indicate to us that he's starting his withdrawal from Kuwait," said Marine Brig. Gen. Richard Neal, deputy chief of operations of the Central Command. "All coalition forces are continuing aggressive patrolling and reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance." A Saudi reconnaisance patrol, in one cross-border foray, pushed six miles beyond the Saudi border and cleared Iraqi mines to create an access lane that presumably would be used if the ground operations begin. Col. Ahmed Robayan, spokesman for the Saudi forces, would not say if the minefield was in Iraq or Iraqi-occupied Kuwait. He said that during the sweep the patrol defused and removed 75 mines and turned over to the other coalition forces intelligence data on Iraqi defenses, including videotapes of what he called a complex system of Iraqi-built obstacles. The napalm attack was confirmed by Marine pilots and ordnance crews, who said the napalm was being used to destroy oil-filled trenches set up by the Iraqis to stop allied ground forces from invading. Pilots said napalm was not being used against Iraqi troops. Military spokesmen at allied headquarters in Riyadh said last week that napalm -- a highly flammable petroleum jelly -- would not be used in the war because of controversies attached to its use during the Vietnam War. According to television journalists who saw the bombs being loaded on Marine Corps planes, slogans like "For Mom" and "Say Cheese" had been written on some of the bombs. One man with a cut finger wrote "For Mom" on one of the bombs in his own blood, Reuter reported. The heavy artillery duel came as Marines patrolling the border area Thursday morning fired into Iraqi territory hoping to prompt an Iraqi response so Marine strategists could determine how much firepower the opposing forces could muster after weeks of heavy bombing. Iraqi troops countered with an artillery barrage that continued for almost 24 hours. "We weren't anticipating they would respond so aggressively," Lt. Col. Jan Huly of the 2nd Marine Division told pool reporters. After hours of pounding by Marine Corps aircraft and artillery, 81 Iraqi soldiers surrendered to the American forces, according to Huly. "It looked like {the Iraqis} were infantry units operating with tank support," said Huly. "As soon as the tanks were destroyed, it looked like they lost the will to fight." Huly said at least two tanks, and probably four to five others, were destroyed, along with four ammunition trucks. An Iraqi artillery position also was knocked out. One of the Marines' jeep-like Humvee vehicles also took a direct hit. It was occupied at the time by Lance Cpls. Robert Grady and William Noland. Grady, 21, of Madison, N.C., said they were part of a "look and see" patrol miles beyond the so-called "friendly berm," an earthen embankment in Saudi territory at the Kuwaiti border. "We saw mortar rounds exploding in front of us -- one, two, three," said Grady, who was riding shotgun in the Humvee, or Hummer as some troops call it. "The fourth round nailed the Hummer in the rear. There was a loud boom, we were thrown up against the windshield, then we shoved out and were running for cover." The "boom" was the explosion of four Stinger anti-aircraft missiles carried aboard the Humvee. It was unclear whether the two Marines were blasted to safety, or jumped out ahead of the explosion. Later today, with red pen in shaky hand, Grady inscribed a new nickname on his Kevlar helmet: "Lucky as Hell." Noland, 25, of Memphis, scrawled on his helmet: "Lucky as Hell II." Marines of the 2nd Division and reporters accompanying them were ordered this morning to begin taking pills designed to slow the effect of nerve gases and other chemical weapons that could be used by the Iraqis, another sign that a ground war against the Iraqi forces may be imminent. Troops were ordered to take the same pills the day before the air war began six weeks ago. An American soldier was killed in other skirmishing along the border today, the U.S. Central Command said. Neal told reporters that five soldiers were wounded in three clashes during the day, but it was not clear if the 2nd Marine Division's engagement and two casualties were included in this tally. U.S. forces destroyed 18 Iraqi tanks, 15 other vehicles and took 100 prisoners, Neal said. Neal said allied warplanes launched 2,700 sorties during the 24 hours ending this afternoon, including 1,000 against Iraqi battlefield positions in Kuwait. The number of sorties reported in the Kuwait theater were higher than they have been during any day in recent weeks. While sidestepping questions about the timing of a possible ground offensive, Neal said, "U.S. forces are fully prepared for the execution of any action or any order given by the president of the United States." Denying that an allied ground offensive effectively had already begun, Robayan, the Saudi military spokesman, said: "It is not the start of the ground war. It is only reconnaissance in force and screening. We are trying to learn as much as we can . . . to help the commanders to start the ground war in the right way." Navy Capt. Ronald E. Wildermuth, chief of information for the U.S. Central Command, said, "I have no knowledge of a ground war starting at this time, and I would know if one had started." Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams told reporters in Washington that the Iraqi military's command and control equipment had been so damaged by U.S. and allied aerial bombardment that "they probably don't have as clear a picture as many of you on what our probing operations are all about." He said any ground war would be "on a considerably larger scale." Military officials in Washington reported today that only one Scud had been launched toward Saudi Arabia in the past day, breaking in two before striking the Arabian desert and Qatar without causing any apparent injuries. They said three Scuds launched the previous day had all come from launchers deployed within Baghdad's city limits, evidently because of an Iraqi strategy aimed at protecting them from aerial attack. A total of 72 Scuds have been launched to date by Iraq, with targets divided almost equally between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Lt. Gen. Thomas Kelly, operations director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reported that no U.S. aircraft had been lost today, while another Iraqi aircraft was destroyed on the ground to bring the tally of U.S. and allied "kills" to 91. F-16 fighter pilots also reported destroying seven mobile Scud launchers and four Scuds, including one that was evidently poised for launch. Rear Adm. Mike McConnell, the Joint Chiefs intelligence director, denied Iraqi charges earlier this week that mosques in Karbala and Najaf had been damaged by U.S. bombing. He said that "there have been some instances of collateral {or civilian} damage" elsewhere in Iraq, but "it's very, very small." Staff writers Molly Moore in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and R. Jeffrey Smith in Washington contributed to this report.
© Copyright 1991 The Washington Post Company
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