File: 082696_d50028_142.txt
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[DOD Release 17 FEB 91]

February 18
Monday--- President Mikhail S. Gorbachev presents Iraq with another formula for a withdrawal
from Kuwait. Details are not announced, but the proposals are believed to combine an unconditional
Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait with pledges of Soviet help in preserving Iraq's sovereignty and in calling
a Middle East peace conference. Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz returns to Iraq to present the plan to
Saddam Hussein. (New York Times, February 19, p. Al.)

The Bush Administration indicates there is nothing in the Soviet peace proposal that would, at this
stage, cause a delay in a planned ground attack. (New York Times, February 19, p. A6.)

Two American ships, the USS TRIPOLI and the USS PRINCETON, strike Iraqi mines while
operating off Kuwait in preparation for an allied ground offensive. Both suffer substantial structural
damage, but remain ready for warfare; casualties are light. (New York Times, February 19, p. Al.)

Allied pilots fly 2,400 sorties, raising the total for the war to 80,000. (New York Times, February
19, p. A7.)

---Intelligence officers report that, after interrogation of more than 1,400 Iraqi prisoners, a portrait
emerging of battle-weary front line forces who in many cases are hungry, demoralized and bitter at
President Saddam Hussein for waging a war few sokiiers support. (N~~ork Times, February 19,
p. A7.)

The allies continue "aggressive patrolling, reconnaissance, and counter-reconnaissanceI' along the
Saudi border and inside Iraq as part of a coordinated effort to gain battlefield intelligence and confuse
the Iraqi military about the main points of an allied attack. (New York Times, February 19, p. A7.)

The Western European Union (WEU) forms a fourth naval task group for operations in the Per~;ian
Gulf area. The WEU comprises Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. (Defense News, February 18, p. 39.)

Congress continues work on sweeping legislation designed to provide education, insurance, medical,
pension, housing and economic benefits to military personnel serving in the Persian Gulf. (New York
Times, February 19, p. A12.)

Allied bombers shower leaflets on southern Iraqi cities, warning the population to leave their homes
ahead of planned air attacks. The leaflets, bearing pictures of a missile and a warning in Arabic to local
residents, were carried by the wind to Iranian border cities. The leaflet operations comes four days

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