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

DATE: MONDAY, February 4, 1991                   TAG: 9102040124
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Newsday
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

CHEMICAL CAPABILITY BELIEVED DIMINISHED

Iraq's ability to use chemical weapons effectively in a ground war has been diminished by allied control of the skies and a chemical arsenal believed too small to immobilize well-protected allied forces, analysts say.

Iraq has used chemical weapons in the past, and U.S. military officials take seriously Saddam Hussein's threat to use them again. But Pentagon officials said allied air attacks have largely destroyed Iraq's ability to manufacture new supplies of chemical weapons. Allied air dominance also should make it difficult for Iraq to deliver chemical weapons by airplane or to mount a sustained artillery barrage on the ground, analysts said.

Still, analysts stress that chemical weapons remain a terror threat that can cause stress among troops and disrupt local battlefield advances. Iraq also has been reported to have biological agents, although its ability to deliver them effectively in a weapon is questionable.

Most of Iraq's perceived chemical threat now consists of mustard gas and other agents sealed in artillery shells and battlefield rocket shells capable of hitting targets as far away as 18 miles.

by CNB