THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 7, 1994 TAG: 9412070673
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 116 lines
A Navy admiral has labeled as ``ludicrous'' the demands by Iraq's foreign minister that the U.N. condemn the United States for intercepting Iraqi ships last week and striking an Iraqi seaman.
``He was badly misinformed,'' said Rear Adm. Daniel J. Murphy Jr., commander of Cruiser/Destroyer Group 8. He spoke in a satellite telephone interview Tuesday from his flagship, the Norfolk-based carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower.
``We are here to enforce U.N. sanctions against Iraq. That is precisely what we did, staying well within specific authorities that we have been given. There was in no way a breach of that.''
Murphy, in the first detailed description of the Persian Gulf incident, said the commander of a SEAL team platoon based in Norfolk was attacked by an Iraqi crew member as SEALs and Marines from the Eisenhower boarded a tanker suspected of carrying contraband.
``He neutralized him immediately, with a single strike to the cheek with the butt of a machine pistol,'' Murphy said.
The boarding was ordered after the tanker failed to answer a challenge in international waters, where the Eisenhower battle group is helping enforce U.N. sanctions against Iraq.
Murphy said the Navy has boarded five vessels suspected of breaking those sanctions in recent days. Thousands of merchant vessels have been intercepted or boarded since the embargo began in 1990.
Three tugs were intercepted last Wednesday as they sailed south from Iraq in the northern gulf. They were found to be carrying23,000 tons of gasoline among them. The ships are still being held.
The Florida-based cruiser Leyte Gulf, serving as the battle group's advance ship for maritime interdiction, discovered the three tugs.
The next day, an SH-3 Sea King helicopter from the San Diego-based frigate Reid detected the coastal tanker coming out of an Iraqi port.
After challenging the ship and receiving no answer, the helicopter hovered in front of the tanker to get the ship's attention. The ship moved away.
``The tanker came hard right and moved in the direction of Iraqi oil platforms, which are in international waters,'' Murphy said.
Murphy obtained permission from Vice Adm. John Scott Redd, commander of the Navy's Central Command in Bahrain, to conduct a night boarding using night-vision goggles and ropes.
The SEALs and Marines were tapped for the job.
They launched three H-3 helicopters, one from deck of the Reid and two from the Eisenhower. Two helicopters provided cover on the flanks, sharpshooters at their doors, as the lead helicopter moved into position.
``It was a very, very difficult position because there was a tug tied alongside at this point . . . that turned out to have five Iraqi government coastal pilots aboard,'' Murphy said.
``So it was a very tight maneuver . . . to actually get into a hover and land an initial boarding party of eight SEALs - on a dime, in essence.''
Murphy commended the pilot, Cmdr. John Bader, commanding officer of HS-7, for making the delicate maneuver in the dark, using night vision goggles.
``The only space they had on the Iraqi tanker was a catwalk two feet wide which ran down the center line of the ship.''
The first SEAL dropped by rope and took up position to secure the landing of the others.
When the second SEAL, the commander of ``Foxtrot'' Platoon, descended, ``he was physically attacked by one of the crewmen, who lunged at him and took a swing at him,'' Murphy said.
After subduing that crewman, the SEALs handcuffed two more. There was no further opposition.
The platoon then boarded the second vessel, the tug, and went through the same process.
``That was the full extent of any of the physical activity. It was minimum force,'' Murphy said.
The tanker's cargo turned out to be drinking water for crews on the oil platforms. The tanker and the tug were released the next day and escorted back to where the Navy had found them.
The other three tugs are still being held. ``They had paperwork that was so bad . . . it alone was enough to get them diverted,'' Murphy said.
``We felt they were smugglers and put security teams from the Ike aboard all three of them - five Marines and one SEAL communicator with each ship. We basically told them we were going to stay there until they came clean on precisely what it was they were carrying, where they got it and why their paperwork wasn't in order.''
Lt. Cmdr. Rick Bastien, a Navy lawyer who had trained with the SEALs, boarded all three tugs and spent 36 hours interviewing their masters.
``Over time, he was able to obtain from each a written statement signed by each master admitting to having knowingly purchased Iraqi oil in Iraqi ports, or Iraqi territorial waters, and knowingly attempted to circumvent the U.N. economic sanctions,'' Murphy said.
The U.N. Security Council imposed a trade embargo on Iraq in August 1990 after Saddam Hussein's forces invaded neighboring Kuwait. U.S. and allied navies enforce the embargo by patrolling the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. ILLUSTRATION: Graphics
THE IKE ON THE MOVE
A portion of the 14-ship Eisenhower task force, which left
Norfolk Oct. 19 for a six-month deployment, has been in the Persian
Gulf for the past month. It is now returning to the Mediterranean
Sea, having left the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. It is expected to
pass through the Suez Canal in another week. Meanwhile, the Ike's
air wing continues to fly about 110 sorties a day over southern Iraq
to monitor the no-fly zone there.
ENFORCING THE EMBARGO
Map
STAFF
SOURCE: U.S. Navy
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: PERSIAN GULF IRAQ
by CNB