Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: bxr307@csc.anu.oz.au
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Special Ops in Gulf Region
Message-ID: <1990Sep13.012658.17436@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 13 Sep 90 01:26:58 GMT
References: <1990Aug24.034319.1210@cbnews.att.com>,<1990Sep6.154708.26061@cbnews.att.com> <1990Sep11.024507.14550@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: Computer Services, Australian National University
Lines: 56
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: bxr307@csc.anu.oz.au
In article <1990Sep11.024507.14550@cbnews.att.com>, sysmgr@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU (Doug Mohney) writes:
> From: sysmgr@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU (Doug Mohney)
> In article <1990Sep6.154708.26061@cbnews.att.com>, smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin) writes:
> 
>>There have been several reports in the papers about U.S. forces
>>advising and supplying Kuwaiti resistance forces.  I doubt there
>>would be any direct combat involvement by Americans until the
>>decision had been made to attack, and the timetable set -- the
>>adverse publicity risks are too high.
> 
> I beg to differ. I would be willing to bet that we do have some people in
> Kuwait on the ground working to locate and smuggle out as many U.S. citizens
> as can be found. While not a "direct combat involvement," it comes pretty
> close to earning hazardous duty pay. 
> 
> Can the Brits on the mailing list tell me if they've heard anything about SAS
> teams moving to staging locations in the Middle East? 


	I would be extremely surprised to find that they had heard anything. 
The British SAS is _extremely_ secretive about everything to with their
movements, stationing and members.  In fact they are so secretive that they
refuse to allow photographers to take photos showing their faces (if you look
in any book about the British SAS you will see photos only of their backs or
with the faces blanked out).  In the Falklands the only way reporters were able
to identify the SAS was by their almost exclusive use of the M16 rifle and
their having been issued better quality waterproof clothing than the normal
soldiers taking part in the campiagn.  
	However even keeping that in mind I would be very surprised that the
SAS had not already been moved into position (along with elements of the SBS as
well as the Gulf would be ideally suited to both units' style of operations). 
Most of the advisors supplied by British companies to Oman and the UAE are
ex-SAS and the SAS has had a long history of a presence in Oman.  So I would
say almost definitly that there would be an SAS squadron on the ground most
probably by now.   Most probably it would be the squadron dedicated to long
range patrol operations and would be operating deep into the desert.  Their
role, unlike that of most US special forces, is almost purely that of deep
penetration reconniassance, something particularly useful in this situation
(while they do have a secondary role of operating in the classic "commando"
style they are primarily trained to be recce specialists first and raiders
second).  I would imagine they would be primarily used to find and mark
possible invasion routes (for both sides) and to act as one of the main sources
of human intelligence along the border in the more remote regions.  In addition
they could also already be inside Kuwait and Iraq, in mufti, acting as advisors
and spying out the lay of the land (which is what they did in Argentina itself
during the Falklands campiagn).  Another role they could be used for could be 
"assasination" of certain select targets  (eg commanders and certain
personalities).  They have carried out similar mission in Northern Ireland, in
Aden, Oman and Malaya.  So it is something not to be ruled out.


Brian Ross