The Day in the Gulf
* PROPOSAL INADEQUATE, BUSH SAYS: President Bush criticized a Soviet peace proposal to end the Gulf War, saying there must be no negotiations and no concessions to gain Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait. Bush did not disclose details of the plan but said it “falls well short of what would be required.” Soviet Foreign Minister Alexander A. Bessmertnykh said it is not up to Bush to reject the initiative.
* FAST TURNAROUND: Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz returned to Baghdad with the Soviet proposal. At the United Nations, Soviet Ambassador Yuli M. Vorontsov said Aziz is to return to Moscow today and that he is hoping “for a positive reply.”
* SCHWARZKOPF’S VIEW: Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf said Iraq’s military machine is on the verge of collapse and is losing about two battalions of tanks a day to allied air strikes. The commander of U.S. forces in the Gulf portrayed the Iraqi forces as being increasingly demoralized, beset with deserters and commanded by an inept leader, Saddam Hussein.
* HUNT FOR MINES: Minesweepers from the coalition forces searched for mines believed planted by the Iraqis. U.S. officials, meanwhile, said the Princeton was being towed to Bahrain for repairs after a mine blast Monday jammed its port rudder and cracked the superstructure above its deck.
* THE AIR WAR: Allied warplanes repeatedly targeted Baghdad and pounded Iraqi artillery positions in Kuwait and Iraq in what was seen as preparation for a ground assault.
* SCUD TARGETS ISRAEL: An Iraqi Scud missile fired at Israel was apparently intercepted over the central part of the country. The Scud appeared to have been intercepted by one of two Patriot defensive missiles that raced toward it. There were no casualties, an army spokesman said.
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