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

DATE: MONDAY, February 25, 1991                   TAG: 9102250178
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From The Washington Post and The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

DUMPING SADDAM OUR ACTUAL GOAL, U.S. OFFICIALS SAY

The beginning of a ground campaign has unleashed the U.S. military to dismantle as much of the Iraqi military as possible and pursue Saddam Hussein's forces in and near Kuwait until they surrender, abandon their heavy equipment or are killed, according to senior officials.

Although administration officials are not prepared to say so publicly, they are making it increasingly clear that the United States now considers the downfall of Saddam and the elimination of his Baath Party not only the most desirable ending to the war but an attainable one.

President Bush's official position is that the United States is not actively seeking to remove Saddam from power, although the president has indicated he would welcome his ouster.

But administration officials have been speaking with increasing candor about their desire to see Saddam deposed and about ways of applying pressure to accomplish that.

Secretary of State James Baker, Brent Scowcroft, the president's national security adviser, and Robert Gates, Scowcroft's deputy, all suggested in television appearances on Sunday that if Saddam remained in power, Washington and its allies would keep United Nations sanctions against Iraq in place longer than they might otherwise.

They also indicated that the American naval and air presence in the Persian Gulf region would probably grow after the war.

The pursuit of the administration's goals is likely to bring much more difficult and potentially bloody fighting tonight or Tuesday with Iraq's Republican Guard forces, according to senior officials.

U.S., British and French forces now moving north and east behind dug-in Republican Guard units will be in a position by tonight or Tuesday to engage those forces, sources said. Most of them are on the Iraqi side of the Iraq-Kuwait border, where they will be pursued.

Though the military is operating under strict rules requiring that Iraqi forces be encouraged and given an opportunity to surrender, senior officers Sunday said that they were engaged in what amounted to "total war" - a more elaborate mission than simply expelling Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

Another senior official said the goal is to make sure the eight divisions of the Republican Guard in the Kuwait theater "don't escape."

"The next day's fighting will be the real crux of the operation," one government analyst said. He said that the level of resistance displayed by the Republican Guard will "tell the tale" of how long the war will last and what the toll of U.S. and allied casualties will be.

Several informed officials said the U.S. and allied plan for today and Tuesday is to continue pushing toward Kuwait City, while racing from Saudi Arabia through southern Iraq to the north and west of dug-in Iraqi Republican Guard forces.

Army Maj. Dan Grigson of the 101st Airborne Division described his mission Sunday to a reporter. "Don't worry about Kuwait, it's a piece of dirt," Grigson said. "We're going after the Iraqi army."

by CNB