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

DATE: MONDAY, August 16, 1993                   TAG: 9308160077
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

REPORT SAYS AIR ATTACK SUCCESSES OVERSTATED

U.S. intelligence during the Gulf War was generally good but it vastly overstated the success of allied air attacks on Iraqi tanks in the run-up to the ground campaign, a House Armed Services Committee report says.

"This was the greatest challenge and the greatest failure of the intelligence community in Operation Desert Storm," the 45-page report said.

Assessing the extent of damage to Iraqi armor was especially important to U.S. commanders during the air war because it provided the basis for deciding when the Iraqi forces were sufficiently weakened to begin the allied ground assault.

The report said the Army was authorized to do the battle damage assessment during the air war since its soldiers were going to face the surviving Iraqi armor.

"It turned out, however, that the Army had little idea of how to do this," the report said. "There simply was - and is - no book, no doctrine" on how to go about assessing battle damage. - Associated Press

by CNB