File: 082696_d50028_135.txt
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Total Pages: 274

that nearly 40 percent of the Iraqi air force is out of commission; and that 600 tanks have been
destroyed. (New York Times. February 9, p. 1.)

Secretary of Defense Cheney and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Powell, speaking to allied
air crews outside Riyadh, promise an early end to the Persian Gulf war saying that an American-led
ground assault could draw Iraqi troops out in the open where they would be easier targets for allied
combat planes. (New York Times. February 9, p. 6.)

Baghdad radio says that the Iraqi people are more determined than ever in the showdown with the
West and says President Bush will be haunted \1ntil doomsday for the civilian blood spilled on Iraqi soil.
Another commentary blames Saudi King Fahd as well as President Bush for deaths of civilians. (New
York Times. February 9, p. 7.)

UNICEF and the World Health Organization are asking the allies in the Persian Gulf to guarantee
safe passage through eastern Iraq for a convoy carrying medicine from Iran to women and children in
Iraq and Kuwait. (New York Times. February 9, p. 7.)

U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar expresses concern over civilian casualties in Iraq
and calls for an intensified diplomatic effort to end the war. (Washington Post, February 9, p. 15.)

Concerned that any move by Jordan to the Iraqi camp would upset the fragile Gulf alliance,
President Bush has increased pressure on Jordan to remain neutral in the Persian Gulf war. (New York
Times. February 9, p. 7.)

Jordanians are angry over the Bush Administration's decision to review economic aid to Jordan and
over the killing of Jordanian truck drivers in attacks on vehicles that were importing Iraqi oil into
Jordan in violation of U.N. sanctions. As relations between the two countries worsen, many American
diplomats are being ordered out of the country and Americans in general are being urged to leave. (New
York Times. February 9, p. 8.)

February 9
Saturday--- Soviet President Gorbachev says that the Persian Gulf war is threatening to go beyond
the U.N. mandate and is sending a personal envoy to Baghdad to appeal to Saddam Hussein to end the
war. (New York Times, February 10, p. 1.)

Secretary of Defense Cheney and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Powell spend almost nine
hours meeting with top American field commanders in Saudi Arabia, where they listen to appraisals of
progress in the war that are officially characterized as upbeat and debate at great length the timing and
nature of the war's next phase. (New York Times, February 10, p. 1.)

American commanders announce that allied air attacks have destroyed more than 750 tanks, more
than 650 artillery pieces and more than 600 armored personnel carriers since the war began. (New York
Times, February 10, p. 1.)

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