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File: DOC_81_CENTCOM_NEW_BRIEF_013.txt
Page: 013
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     A:   I don't know, but we~re sure going to find out if there's anything left.
The SCUDs that were being fired against Saudi Arabia came from right here.  So
obviously, one of the things we're going to check on when we finally get to that
location is what's left.

       0:  Could you tell us in terms of the air war, of how effective you think it
was in speeding up the ground campaign.   Obviously, it's gone much faster than you
ever expected.   As a second part of that, how effective do you think the air/land
battle campaign has been?
       A:  The air war, obviously, was very, very effective. You just can~t predict
about things like that.   You can make your best estimates at the outset as to how
quickly you will accomplish certain objectives, but of course, a lot of that depends
on the enemy and how resilient the enemy is, how tough they are, now well dug in they
are.   in the earlier phases we znade great progress in the air war. In' the latter
stages wc didn't make a lot of progress because frankly, the enemy had burrowed down
into the ground as result of the air war.   That, of course~ made the 8ir war a little
bit tougher, but when you dig your tanks in and bury them, they're no longer tanks.
They're now pill bo~es.   That, then, makes a difference in the ground campaign.  When
you don't run them for a long time they have seal problems, they have a lot of
maintenance problems and that type of thing.  ~o the air campaign was very, ~ery
successful and contributed a great deal.

      How effective as the air/ground campaign?  I think it was pretty effective
myself.   I don't know what you all think

      0:   Can you tell us what you think as you look down the road would be a
reasonable size for the Iraqi Army, and can you tell us roughly what the si~e is now
if the war were to stop this evening?
      A:   With regard to the size right now, at one time Saddam Hussein was claiming
that he had a seven million man army.   if he's got a seven million man army, they've
still got a pretty big army out there.   How effective that army is, is an entirely
different qucstion.

      With regard to the size of the army he should have, I don~t think that's my job
to decide that.   I think there are an awful lot of people that live in this part of
the world,  and I would hope that is a decision that's arrived at mutually by all the
people in this part of the world to contribute to peace and stability in this part of
the world,   I think that'a the best answer I can give,

     0:   You said the gate was closed. ~aVe you got ground forces blocking the
roads to ~asra?
     A:   No.

Q:   Is there any way they can get Out that way?
A:   No.  (Laughter)  That's ~hy the ~ate's closed.

      0:   Is there a military or political explanation as to why the iraqis did not
use chemical weapons?
      A:   We had a lot of questions about why the Iraqis didn't use chemical weapons,
and I dQt"t know the answer.   I just thank God that they didn't

     ~..   Is it possible they didn't use them because they didn~~ have titne to react?
     A:    You want ~e to speculate, I'll be delighted to speculate. Nobody can ever
pin you down when you speculate.  Nuinber one, we destroyed their artillery.  We went
after their artillery big time.   They had major desertions in their artillery, and


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