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File: doc71_06.txt
6
Sehwarflopf, if he hears that somebody's not getiing his mail, he's Soing after then'. So we make
every effort to'get the mail to them. Skip, but 10 be very honest with you' yes. Given tile way
wC `It moving around' it does slow down mail delivery. S
Q: Could YOU characteriac the `cope and intensity of anti~aircraft 0pp05ib0~ we've seen in
the last t~v0 or thtee days?
A: Quite frankly* if You compare it with (lie stait of the air campaign, nowhere near the same
intensity. 1 could conclude a couple of reasons. Nuniber one, diey become an Immediate target for
our air power. We have supremacy of the air, so they become exutmdy lucrative and vulnerable
targets. I would say that would be one reason, if 1 was an AA gunner, I would have some second
thoughts about taking our air under fir~; and perhaps the fact that he's maybe husbanding his AAA
capability. Those would be Just logical military conclusions 1 would draw from the fact that it is
vastly icciticed in tempo.
But 1 would follow on and say don't get the impression tl~at it is not a high risk environment
out there for our pilots. When they go in after targets they are getting AAA r~~. it's stiU a high
risk profession to be an aviator right now, and they're doing a superb Job.. very skillful aviators.
flut the risk has not gone away totally.
Q: I'd like to follow up on the fact that you said the Iraqis may be using these schools, these
religious areu. Can you give us some details? What do you believe the Iraqis are doing in the schools
and these reUgious areas, what exactly are they doing?
A: 1 think simply trying to protect their assets, be It command and control or, as I said,
aircraft they're trying to put in residential areas. Important assets, (nilitary assets they have, we
believe that they are starting 10 move those into the civilian areas, for the very reasons that we're
001 targeting civilian areas as a part~of our air campaign. -
an; ceav:Q~u:inflcYe~s~~itan~aid~~:Ia~itesmwlig~QflSb:~ the an~ in case was Un01u('gt~~~b5o~\~~b0oje\70d~f51is~~tl~~dl)e~e
A: j explained on the Mariiie seven that, that that was indeed a result
of air-delivered weapon systems on the friendly side. *The other one you're talking about was the
cluster bombs we heard were dropped on a Marine convoy, and I do not have any update on that,
except to know that it is being Investigated. We're confident, based on the geography of where they
were hit, that It was well within Saudi territory, and it wo~ld not have been enemy ~~e. It was most
certainly friendly fire. But undl we've closed the loop on all the investigations, what aiii:raft were
flying and where were they, what kind of munitions, I really can't give you a full report But we're
working on it, and when I get the facts I'll share them with you
Q: Do you have current POW totals?
A: It Is somewhere in the vicinity of SOO. It has not substantially changed since I talked to
you yesterday. Again, most of those are in the Saudi ~PW camps.
Q: The news talks about 50 American trucks lost in Saudi Arabia. Is there any news about
this?
A: Yes, the report that Li~ere were 50 trucks missing In Saudi Arabia, and it was some Army
- vehicles `hat allegedly had clissppear~& The thought was, perhaps, they had been taken by the Iraqis
~ ustd for some kind of terrorist activity or to e~plolt a penetration in our lines. h
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