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News Digest Edited by Jennifer O'Cilka Bush vows to press war with Iraq WASHINGTON - President Bush grimly vowed to press the war against Iraq “with undiminished intensity” Tuesday as the Pentagon said Sad dam Hussein’s shattered army was “in full retreat.” Bush said the troops were leaving only in hopes of re grouping to fight again another day. “Saddam is not interested in peace,” Bush declared. “He is trying to save the remnants of power and control in the Middle East by every means possible,” Bush said. “And here, too, Saddam Hussein will fail.” Pounded by air and ground at tacks, Saddam’s forces were on the run in occupied Kuwait and threat ened by more than 100,000 U.S. and allied troops in southern Iraq. A small band of U.S. and Saudi special forces probed Kuwait City as an allied force of thousands waited to enter the Kuwaiti capital. “Tomorrow, when the sun comes up, the question in my mind is whether the enemy is going to be there,” Lt. Gen. Thomas Kelly said at the Penta gon. He said Saddam’s powerful Republican Guard had not performed any better in battle than other units. “The Iraqi army is in full retreat, although there is still fighting going on,” Kelly said. Declaring that the allies were advancing faster than expected, Bush proclaimed, “The liberation of Ku wait is close at hand.” After an afternoon update on the war, Bush said, “We arc not only on schedule, we’re ahead of schedule. No commander in chief has ever been so proud of America’s men and women in uniform.” In a radio speech, Saddam said he had ordered his troops to withdraw. Bush dismissed that in a terse and unyielding statement in the Rose Garden, saying, “He is trying to claim victory in the midst of a rout.” Vice President Dan Quayle was at Bush’s side during the White House statement and later made clear that the United States wants to render Saddam powerless. “Saddam and his military machine are simply incompatible with a last ing and just peace,” Quayle said in a speech at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. Britain, France, Egypt, Germany, Italy and Japan all said withdrawal alone was not enough and that Iraq must comply with all U.N. resolu tions imposed after Iraq’s Aug. 2 takeover of Kuwait. Aside from demanding immediate and unconditional withdrawal, the measures call for quick release of detained foreigners, raise the possi bility of war reparations and urge nations to collect evidence of human rights abuses, presumably for use in war crimes trials. Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, ‘We’re very pleased with the progress to date but . . . it is not yet over so it will continue until it is over.” Bush said Saddam had not re nounced his claim on Kuwait nor accepted all the mandates of the U.N. “Nor is there any evidence of remorse for Iraq’s aggression or any indica tion that Saddam is prepared to ac cept the responsibility for the awful consequences of that aggression,” Bush said. Settling the score with Saddam WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein’s doomed attempt to keep Kuwait has suddenly become a des perate struggle to survive political demise and pub lic humiliation. Having routed the Iraqi army, President Bush now wants to settle the score with Saddam himself. “He is trying to save the remnants of power and control in the Middle East by every means possible,” the president said of his foe. “And here loo, Saddam Hussein will fail.” The president insisted that Sad dam himself must “personally and publicly” agree to the peace terms the United States and its allies set out on Friday. Bush thus raised the stakes in the Gulf war, with the approval of his closest war allies. Until Monday, the United States and its allies ostensibly sought only to implement the 12 United Nations Security Council resolutions aimed at forcing Iraq to give up neighboring Kuwait, which Saddam’s forces an “44 - He is trying to save the remnants of power and control in the Middle East by every means possible... and here too, Saddam Hussein will fail. President Bush -99 - ncxed last August. The first of those resolutions, No. 660, requires that Iraqi forces with draw “to the positions in which they were located on Aug. 1, 1990, “the day before they crossed the Kuwaiti border. But White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater made clear Monday night that mere withdrawal would no longer be sufficient. They must, he said, lay down their arms and walk out. On Tuesday morning. Bush went a step further, extending the surrender order to troops in Iraq. His terms were echoed by a senior British official after an emergency meeting of Prime Minister John Ma jor’s War Cabinet. Iraqi troops in the war zone, including units of the Re publican Guards, must withdraw with out their weapons, the source said, refusing to be identified. “Before the land war started, we just demanded Iraqi troops withdraw,” the source said. “Now it is more diffi cult.” In line with the U.N. resolutions, the United Slates also demanded that Iraq give up its claim to the oil-rich emirate, agree to compensate Kuwait and others—including even arch- foe Israel — for damage done to them, return all prisoners of war and hos tages and help the victorious forces find and remove hidden mines on land and sea. Iraqi generals could face trial for war crimes, as could Saddam if he should fall into allied hands. The devastated country remains crippled by a worldwide trade em bargo that prevents it from selling its principal resource, oil, or receiving outside help to rebuild. Americans share skepticism about Iraqi peace promise Even as they cheered the prom ise of peace T ucsday, many Ameri cans wanted more. They wanted a guarantee. “I don’t trust Saddam Hussein. He’s not a man of his word,” said Anna Goodwin, who has three sons in the 82nd Airborne. “The day President Bush says he’s bringing our boys home, I’ll shout hallelu jah. Not until.” The U.S.-led ground campaign’s progress was fogged by Saddam’s latest turn. In a radio address, the Iraqi leader told his people the “legendary showdown” was over and their forces had won. But President Bush accused Saddam of claiming “victory in the midst of a rout,” and the allied offensive continued in Kuwait. “I think we should keep right on fighting,” said Fred Lauerof Sioux Falls, S.D. “As far as I’m concerned,” said Michael Engelskirchen of Fayettev ille, N.C., “we should go right on to Baghdad.” Relatives of 527,000 U.S. troops in tne Persian uim were among tne most skeptical of Saddam’s vow to withdraw his forces Tuesday. It was a reflexive caution developed over 6 1/2 months of watching peace’s repeated failure, “I don’t believe it,” said Betty Horton of Aurora. 111., whose nephew is in the gulf. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” said Bernie Ncalon, a World War II veteran from Cleveland. Many found pretensions of peace especially distasteful one day after 28 American soldiers were killed and 100 wounded by an Iraqi mis sile that struck a U.S. encampment near Dhahran, Saudi .Arabia. “I think it’s kind of stupid for a man to say he wants to withdraw and then drop a Scud missile on our barracks.” said Harmon Wilson, 37, of Dallas. “Saddam’s a phony. We need to continue until he surrenders or we put him out of commission perma nently. Anything else means he and his people win the war,” said Albert Rhine of Springfield, Mo. “Stomp him.” r Allies’ deceptive strategy to go down in military texts RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - After befuddling the Iraqis with decep tive maneuvers and blasting them with high-tech weapons, the U.S. led coalition appeared Tuesday on the verge of a victory that will go into military textbooks. Backed by President Bush’s order that no Iraqis would be allowed to go home with their weapons, the fast-moving U.S. forces were re ported to have nearly completed the encirclement of Kuwait and reached the Euphrates River in Iraq. As a tank battle raged between U.S. Marines and Iraqi units at Kuwait’s international airport, the chief spokesman for the U.S. command acknowledged that other pockets of resistance also remained. “Let there be no mistake. The war is not over,” said Marine Brig. Gen. Richard Neal, deputy chief of operations for the U.S. command. But amid the expressions of caution, there was among U.S. officers a sense that they were about to close out one of the most re markable episodes in military his tory. They pointed to the numbers licked off by Neal: • 21 of the 42 Iraqi divisions sent to Kuwait, roughly 200,000 men, “destroyed or rendered inef fective.” • 32,000 prisoners, a grimy and bedraggled lot, but grateful to be done with the round-the-clock roar of bombs and artillery. •400 Iraqi tanks destroyed in three days by air strikes and ar mored clashes. • Four U.S. servicemen killed and 21 wounded in the ground fight ing, casualties so low as to defy all expectations, especially for war fare with heavy weapons at close range. Most credit, officers say, must go to the U.S. commander, Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, whose name has become a household word during the desert war. Schwarzkopf was little known outside military circles in 1988 when he took over as chief of U.S. Cen tral Command, a Tampa, Fla.-based headquarters charged with U.S. military affairs in 19 countries including the Persian Gulf region. In July he put his staff through a war game exercise that postulated a major threat by a small-time dictator to U.S. interests in the Middle East, requiring a swift and massive military commitment. The exercise ended four days before Saddam Hussein invaded oil-rich Kuwait, a U.S. ally. With in a week, the exercise was serving as the bedrock plan for the biggest deployment of U.S. forces abroad since Vietnam. During the five months, Sch warzkopf made no secret of his intention to use all the tools avail able: armored units, a vast fleet of 2,000 aircraft and more than 100 warships. Soviet conflict Gorbachev fires back at Yeltsin MOSCOW - President Mikhail Gorbachev fired back at Boris Yeltsin on Tuesday, saying his political rival is not working toward "the goals of perestroika,” Tass reported. Gorbachev, speaking to tractor factory workers in Minsk, made his first public comments about Yeltsin since the Russian federation presi dent called for the Soviet leader’s resignation a week ago. Gorbachev got an earful of com plaints about the economy from work ers at the Minsk Tractor Works in the Byelorussia capital. He also said he would spend two of his three days in the republic visiting areas contami nated by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. At the factory, Gorbachev was asked about a Feb. 12 interview on national television in which Yeltsin accused Gorbachev of abandoning perestroika, his economic restructuring policies, for personal political power. Gorbachev replied that Yeltsin’s own objectives “are at odds with the goals of perestroika,” the official Tass news agency reported. “It would be very simple if every thing boiled down to our personal relationship. What is at issue is two political lines and associated strate gic goals,” he said. “That’s where the difference is.” Since Yeltsin’s harshly critical speech, he has been condemned by Communist Party hard-liners and the Communist media. But more than 100,000 people also rallied on his behalf Sunday in central Moscow, and radical newspapers have been Filled with letters of support. Gorbachev lashed out at radical reformers such as Yeltsin and Moscow Mayor Gavriil Popov in a speech to Byelorussian intellectuals later Tues day, saying they want to dismember the Soviet Union. “There is no need to wonder that these ‘democrats’ enter a political alliance with separatists and nation alist groups,” Gorbachev said. "They have one common goal: to weaken and, if possible, dismantle the un ion.” “Recently the so-called democrats have embarked on a frankly anti Communisl road, calling for proclaim ing the Communist Party of the So viet Union a criminal organization and staging a trial,” he added. “This supercilious mocking hides the desire to lead the people astray_If Boris Yeltsin and Gavriil Popov proclaim themselves democrats, millions of Communists have by far more rea sons to call themselves such.” Gorbachev said the nation’s po litical crisis intensified the past 12 to 18 months and ‘‘threatens to push us off the road of reforms onto the path of confrontation, right up to a civil war.” Gorbachev also told the factory workers that work on a draft agree ment with the 15 republics on setting retail prices was completed Tuesday. The date ot the price increases will be set after the agreement is signed by leaders of the republics this week, he said. Nebraskan Editor Eric Planner ... 472-1766 Night News Editors Pat Dlnslage Managing Editor Victoria Ayotte Clndv Wostrel Assoc News Editors Jana Pedersen Art Director Brian Shelllto Editorial Pana priitnr |m''y OoM^aum General Manager Dan Shattll t ditor.al Page Ed or Bob Nelson Production Manager Katherine Pollcky *^ssjs3: awsr gsass. *s. Photo Chief William Lauer 473-7301 bralkl Union'W Vs published py 'h® UNL Publications Board, Ne weekly during Summer Session? ' °"day thfO°0h Fr'day dunn° m® academiC year; ohOTiino^4r*?ai7M^Sl2fd^> 8ubmi* 8,Pfy ld«as and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by accessVthe P,?hi,n« iT'cand,5 p m Monday through Friday. The public also has Suhsrr ntfnn c «2^fd For in,ormaIlon- contact Bill Vobejda, 436-9993 buoscr.ption price is $45 for one year. St L°S<SnSNP 6B5Maofafl“^?Se8, 10 th® D*"y NeDra8kan. Nebraska Unon 34,1400 R St.,Lincoln. N_ ^p8«u0448 Second cia3s postage paid at Lincoln, NE __ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1991 DAILY NEBRASKAN
