Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Iraq's Military Strength
Message-ID: <1990Aug14.034212.9907@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 14 Aug 90 03:42:12 GMT
References: <1990Aug8.030457.25888@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
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From: smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin)

In article <1990Aug8.030457.25888@cbnews.att.com>, terryy%sandstorm.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Terry Yeung) writes:
> 
> 
> From: terryy%sandstorm.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Terry Yeung)
> As a couple of people have already posted possible U.S. responses to Iraq's
> invasion of Kuwait, I would like to know what kind of opposition would
> American troops face IF they were sent.

Obviously, the ``IF'' no longer applies...

According to newspaper and wire service reports, the exact size of
Iraq's army isn't clear.  Some sources list it at about 1,000,000 men,
with another 400,000-500,000 men in the reserves.  Other sources say
that at least half of the standing army is poorly trained and equipped,
and about 250,000 of the remainder are merely adequate.  The remaining
250,000 soldiers, though, form the elite Republican Guard, which
mounted most of the successful offensive operations against Iran.
They're well-trained, and quite experienced.

The Iraqi air force is not considered to be very good.  They have
essentially no experience in air-to-air operations, since Iran had so
few planes in the air to oppose them.  Their bombing runs were
generally quite ineffective.

As for Iraqi chemical agents -- according to the AP, they have a
blistering agent (believed to be mustard gas) and a nerve gas.  Defense
include protective suits and two counter-agents to nerve gas, atropine
and pralidoxime choride.  In Israel, there are media reports quoting a
Defense Ministry aide as saying that the Iraqis have no chemical
warheads for their missles.