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File: DOC_81_CENTCOM_NEW_BRIEF_010.txt
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absolutely unspea~able atrocities that occurred in Kuwait in the last week.   They're
not a part of the same human race, the people that did that,  that the rest of us are.
I've got to pray that that's the case.

Q:   Can you tell us more about that?
A:   ~o sir, I wouldn't want to talk about it.

     Q:    Could you give us some indication of what's happening to the forces left in
Kuwait?   What kind of forces are they, and are they engaged at the niomont?
     A:    You mean these up here?

     Q:  The ones in Kuwait, the three symbola to the right
     A:  I'm not even sure they're here.   I think they're probably gone   We picked
up a lot of signals with people, there's a road that goes right out here and soes out
that way, and I think they probably, more than likely,  are gone.  So what you're
really faced with is you're ending up fighting the ~epublican Guard heavy mech and
armor units that are there.  Basically what we want to do is capture their equipment.

      Q:   They're all out of Kuwait then?
      A:   I can't say that, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if thare are
pockets of people all around here who are ~ust waiting to surrender as soon as
somebody uncovers them and comes to them, but we're cerLainly not getting any
internal fighting going on across our lines of communication or any of that Sort
thing.

not

of

          0:  General, not to take an~thing away from the Army and the Marines on the
)   breaching inaneuvers...
          A:  I hope you don't.

     Q:  But many of the reports from the pools we've gotten from your field
co~nders and the soldiers were indicating that these fortifications were not as
intense or as sophisticated as they were led to believe.   Is this a result of the
pounding that they took that you described earl~er,  or were they perhaps overrated in
the first place?
     A:  flave you ever been in a minefield?

      0:   No.
      A:   All there's got to be is one mine, and that~s intense. There were plenty
of mines out there, plenty of barbed wire   There were fire trenches1 most of which
we set off ahead of time.  But there were still some that were out there, the
Egyptian forces had to go through fire trenches.  There were a lot of booby traps, a
lot of barbed wire     not a fun place to be. I've got to tell you probably one of
the toughest things that anyone ever has to do is to go up there and walk into
something like that and go through it, and consider that while you're going through
it and clearing it, at the same time you're probably under fire by enemy artillery.
That's all I can say

          0:  Was it less severe than you had expected?  You were expecting even worse,
     in other words
          A:  It was less severe than we expected, but one of the things I contribute
     that to is the fact that we wen~ to extensive :neasures to try and nake it les~
)    ~~~~~~. ~~ r~a1ly did.  I didn't mean to be facetious with my answer, but I've )v8t
     got to te~l you that that was a very tou9h rni8sion for any person to do, particularly
     in a minefie)d.


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