
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 8, 1991                   TAG: 9102080425
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA                                LENGTH: Medium

LAND WAR PRELUDE STARTING/ AIR ASSAULTS TO BECOME EVEN FIERCER

Declaring that a ground war is now inevitable, the British commander in the Persian Gulf said Thursday that the allies planned to greatly intensify their already fierce air assault on Saddam Hussein's forces in the coming weeks.

In Paris, President Francois Mitterrand said an allied ground offensive "promises to take place in the coming days, a little more perhaps . . . in any case, sometime this month."

Although a defector described life in Iraq this week as "bombs, bombs, not a moment without bombs," the Briton, Lt. Gen. Sir Peter de la Billiere, said the coalition's aerial bombardment to date was "minor, compared to what they've got coming."

An American official agreed the number of missions, now about 2,500 a day, could increase soon, with more concentrated on Iraqi troop positions.

The timing of an offensive will be a main subject when Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrive in Saudi Arabia today to meet with Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, the American commander here, and Saudi leaders. They are expected to visit a number of American units in the field.

In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee Thursday, Cheney said, "Our hope is that we can wrap it up as soon as possible, to minimize the loss of life on all sides."

Preparation for ground fighting mounted, with a second American battleship, the Wisconsin, pounding the coastline where a Marine amphibious force might land. American pilots began firing a large number of Maverick anti-tank missiles over the potential battlefield in Iraqi-occupied Kuwait. And a senior allied officer said "the aim of the air campaign now is to disrupt the enemy's front-line troops."

American pilots reported that the Iraqis, who have shifted some of their command and communications installations into schools to protect them from attack, were moving anti-aircraft artillery onto rooftops in residential areas, probably seeking similar protection.

Air activity continued to be intense. The American command announced that a Navy F/A-18 fighter-bomber was lost as it returned to its carrier, apparently without having been hit by hostile fire. A Huey medical evacuation helicopter went down over Saudi Arabia, also for unknown reasons, killing one and injuring four.

Brig. Gen. Richard Neal, an American military spokesman, said American fliers had shot down three enemy helicopters in two days, their first such kills of the war. He also disclosed that United States Air Force F-15C Eagle interceptors had bagged two more Soviet-built Iraqi Su-22 fighters that were trying to reach haven in Iran, and probably also downed.

109 warplanes and 25 transports - including 11 that arrived there on Wednesday.

Also Thursday:

Schwarzkopf told ABC-TV that it was too soon to say whether a ground would be necessary to free Kuwait.

Iraq fired a Scud missile at the Saudi capital of Riyadh, but it was destroyed by Patriot missiles.

Some information in this report came from the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press.

by CNB