Conference back40::soapbox

    Senior U.S. officer says Saddam training troops hard
    
    By Susanne M. Schafer, Associated Press, 01/29/97; 10:57 
    
    WASHINGTON (AP) - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has ordered a large
    number of training exercises for his troops and put his wife under
    house arrest and is pondering invading Kuwait, a senior U.S. military
    officer says. 
    
    White House spokesman Mike McCurry, asked about the report, said today:
    ``I am not aware of anything that would suggest any offensive designs''
    on Saddam's part. 
    
    The officer, speaking Tuesday with Pentagon reporters on condition of
    anonymity, quoted unnamed intelligence sources as telling U.S.
    officials the Iraqi leader ``comes in every morning and makes a
    decision'' on whether his forces should move toward Kuwait. 
    
    He cautioned that he did not believe the high level of training means
    Iraq will ``attack tomorrow morning.'' 
    
    The officer said Iraq's air and ground forces have maintained a rapid
    pace of training over the past several weeks, presumably to educate new
    commanders put in place after a recent military purge. 
    
    The officer called Saddam ``irrational'' and a man who could ``drive
    his commanders ... to go south'' toward Kuwait. 
    
    ``We watch his movements very carefully every night,'' the officer
    said. 
    
    Last week, a leading Iraqi opposition figure said Saddam's security
    forces had arrested about 600 people, including more than 20 senior
    military officers and officials, since the assassination attempt on his
    eldest son and heir apparent, Odai. 
    
    McCurry, asked about the goings-on in Iraq, replied, ``There is a great
    deal of complicated internal struggles for power.'' 
    
    Asked if the United States was aware of internal power struggles,
    McCurry said, ``No. I'm saying there have been some things that have
    happened there recently - the attack upon Hussein's son - there are
    obviously things that have been reported publicly that would indicate
    that there are some internal machinations.'' 
    
    The officer also said Odai may be paralyzed and could lose a leg to
    gangrene. Odai was wounded in a Dec. 12 grenade and machine-gun attack
    as he drove through Baghdad. 
    
    The officer did not offer any detail on the report of Saddam's wife,
    but said the Iraqi leader ``is moving around more,'' while in Baghdad
    or his family stronghold of Takrit, evidence that he probably does not
    feel very secure. 
    
    ``He has done some very, very good training. Last night he flew over
    100 sorties,'' the senior officer said of Saddam's forces. 
    
    The officer said he cannot say Saddam is ``in any risk of losing
    control,'' and the training exercises offer experience to newly placed
    military commanders put in charge of units after the assassination
    attempt against Odai. 
    
    ``I think you're seeing him try to make a better force,'' the officer
    said. 
    
    While he said he believed Saddam could attempt to take over Kuwait with
    a deft, night-time maneuver of one major heavy division, his
    ``worst-case scenario'' involves defending against a sudden shift of
    five divisions southward from their bases near Basra. 
    
    There are no U.S. ground forces in the region to defend against such a
    development, but the Army plans exercises in Kuwait in February. 
    
    ``We're trying to put in place a near-continuous presence,'' the
    officer said of U.S. forces in the region. 
    
    Saddam has ``by far the largest ground force capability in the region
    and it is a threat to Kuwait,'' he said. 

  does this mean we can {drool} bomb them a bit ?

  bb

    If they do, they've got to do it right this time. Get Saddam out of
    there. Too bad they only did half the job last time, now they'll have
    to start all over again and an incredible cost.

    Had to keep the coalition together...all that good knowhow!

    Time for another Carrier in the Gulf, I am so glad my son is
    out of the Army.

    > Had to keep the coalition together...all that good knowhow!
    
    And you know what they say... it's not who you know,
    it's knowhow you.
    
    Chris

    it seems many people are experiencing marijuana
    pratfalls today.

    OOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU.....EVERYTHING'S SO GREEEENE!!!!!!
    
    Count DEMONEY from History of the World.

    
    "That's DeMonET!  DeMonET!"
    
    
    

    
    	[Sorry, Jack, missed my cue.]
    

    
    Pool night again?
    

    
    	You're really on the ball, Deb.
    

    Let's see if she can pick it up with her feet.

    
    
    I do have quite a set of grippy toes.
    

 Can you pick up a baseball like Drew Bledsoe and Bret Favre?

    
    I don't think my feet are big enough, but I'll try!