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2135 hours. Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Captain Caine was engaging the remaining Spetsnaz from the cover of the first stolen Security Forces Humvee. Of the two other soldiers who had been supporting him, only one remained, the other having been hit by a burst of gunfire from the M240 from the second Humvee, which the Soviets had dismounted from the disabled vehicle.

On a couple of occasions he had called on the Spetsnaz to surrender, especially once reinforcements from the USAF 45^th Security Forces Squadron, who were somewhat annoyed at the deaths of their comrades, had arrived, but it seemed as if the Soviets had decided to die instead.

As Caine bobbed up to fire another couple of rounds at the enemy he caught a glimpse of what must have been a missile heading straight towards the near-by Launch Complex 40, where there was a fully fuelled Titan IVB awaiting launch.

"Get down!" He shouted a second before the missile hit its target.

There was a relatively small explosion as the missile warhead detonated followed by an immense blast as the liquid fuel of the core and the solid fuel of the boosters ignited. The tremendous blast demolished the launch pad and seriously damaged rest of the launch complex, throwing out a powerful blast wave and tossing debris over a wide area.

Caine rolled under the Humvee as pieces of Titan rocket and launch pad began to rain down around him. The explosion stunned everybody for quite some distance, and for a few moments the firing stopped.

The shock wore off pretty quickly and the firing resumed a few seconds later. Caine rolled out the other side of the Humvee and put a couple of three round bursts into a culvert where two Spetsnaz were sheltering, killing them both.

*

About an hour later Lt. Colonel Trip stood contemplating the scene before him, his hands on his hips. Battery D was essentially intact, but it was surrounded by burned out vehicles and corpses. It looked almost like some of the television pictures of the fighting in Germany.

"Must have been quite something for a while, Captain Caine." Trip observed. "At least your efforts to fortify your position here paid off; I just wish Rory Speedle had been as careful.

"You know why he was killed?" Trip continued.

"I have a good idea, Colonel." Caine, who had known Captain Speedle fairly well, replied. "He was pretty lazy about maintaining his personal weapon."

"Well that's apparently what killed him. When they pulled his body out of the BCV they found that his pistol was jammed, probably because it was dirty.

"Damn shame, but I can't help feeling that he brought it on himself. I've left Lieutenant Proctor in charge over there, but who knows when the goddamned battery will be operational again."

2150 hours. USS Wasp, the Adriatic.

Lt. Colonel Thompson crouched on the windswept deck of the LHD as he, the rest of H.Q Company, Echo Company and Support Company waited for the return of the MV-22Bs and CH-53Es that had just lifted off carrying the marines of 2^nd/6^th Marines. It was no real surprise to Thompson that the Americans would want to put their own men ashore before inserting his, though he was slightly concerned that without at least some of his men being on the ground, the American's right flank was going to be wide open.

Still, if the intelligence was correct, then there should not be a problem, though Thompson had this nagging suspicion that Soviet Special Forces might be in the area. He would have inserted both recce and fighting patrols if he had been on the other side.

Presently the sound of distant aircraft could be heard as the Osprey and Super Stallions returned. Thompson held onto his Green Beret as they touched down on the flight deck, not wanting to lose so prized a possession.

On a signal from the flight deck crew the Royal Marines began to file forward, boarding the MV-22s and CH-53s and loading heavy equipment into the latter, the process taking a little under five minutes, before the aircraft took off again.

Lt. Colonel Thompson was used to travelling in helicopters like the Sea King HC.4 and Merlin HC.3, so flying in an Osprey was a new experience. He had not decided which he preferred yet.

The one advantage it did have was that the Osprey reached its destination far more quickly, the reverse side of the coin to that was that the CH-53Es carrying the heavy equipment were left behind and the AH-1Z Super Cobras could not effectively escort them.

The Osprey began to descend, indicating that it was approaching Dubrovnik airport, and transitioned to helicopter mode. The Osprey landed with a bump at the end of Dubrovnik airport's main runway.

"Go, go, go!" The US Marine loadmaster yelled to the 'cargo' as the rear ramp dropped.

Thompson grabbed his L85A2 and Bergen and followed the other marines out onto the runway. The air was filled by the deafening noise of dozens of aircraft engines running and there was an ever present smell of aviation fuel.

Marines could be seen moving at the double as they spread out, setting up temporary defensive positions. In contrast Lt. Colonel Thompson walked calmly to the spot which had been chosen to act as his temporary Command Post.

"I'm glad to see you all made it in one piece." Thompson said to this H.Q staff as the Ospreys took off again and the CH-53Es began to arrive. "I think we've been very lucky with this insertion, after all nobody was shooting at us." He added, provoking chuckles from the other marines. "We need to keep on our toes, though. Just because the enemy are still quite a long way away does not mean we won't come under attack, and I'm sure I don't need to remind you that we don't enjoy the same level of organic support that our colleagues in 3 Commando Brigade do."

2201 hours. Southeast of Hanover, FRG.

Captain Currie leant back in the commander's seat of her Challenger 2 as best as she could, reflecting that it had not really been designed for comfort, reading a book by the light of a pen torch. While her crew were rather relaxed about her reading matter the fact that she was spending her spare time reading a manual on armoured tactics that she had borrowed from Major Malcolm, the O.C of A Squadron might have worried the rest of B Squadron had they known about it.

The three other members of the tank's crew did seem to have taken their new commander to their heart however. After returning from collecting the crew's food she had noticed that the tank had acquired the name 'LUMPIE', a clear reference to her.[i]

Currie had also added her own decoration to the tank; her former comrades in The Scottish Horse had heard of her new appointment and had sent out a regimental guidon, which was now flying from one of the Challenger's radio aerials.

B Squadron has been allocated the role of battle group reserve, which meant that it had all but one of its tank troops. The remainder of the squadron group was made up of a couple of mortar vehicles, an engineer section and two Warriors from the Black Watch company's anti-tank platoon.

The anti-tank platoon Warriors had originally mounted a Milan firing post on the top of the turret, which was supposed to be an interim measure until the TRIGAT, which would have had a specially designed turret, entered service. The disadvantages of the Milan arrangement was that it was basically a standard infantry firing post welded to the top of the turret of a Warrior section vehicle and to fire and reload it a crew member had to expose themselves out of the hatch. Not ideal in a situation where one was likely to be under fire and even worse if NBC weapons were to be used.

The TRIGAT Warrior would have solved most of these problems as the missiles would be fired from under armour, though they would still need to be reloaded from the troop hatches. However the British Army had cancelled its order for TRIGAT MR, believing it to now be obsolete, and had bought the American Javelin system instead.

This posed a problem of how to adapt the Warrior anti-tank vehicles to the Javelin system. The army recognised that it needed something a bit better than the current method, but there was no Javelin turret, so the army had begun a programme to modify the Warriors to carry a missile canister mount on each side of the turret and modifying the inside of the turret to allow the missiles to be fired from under armour. A standard Command Launch Unit and tripod were carried in the troop compartment, to allow dismounted engagements, along with missile reloads.

Rather than contract the programme out, the army had carried out the modifications at base workshops, as had been done with the first Chieftain AVREs. Firing trials had proven that the Warrior was an excellent firing platform and the combination of 30mm RARDEN cannon and Javelin missiles made the anti-tank Warrior a formidable vehicle.

*

"Looks like re-supply is coming up, Captain." The loader, who was standing heads out of his hatch manning the GPMG, reported.

"Thanks, Spink." Currie replied (she had started to use the crew's nicknames), turning off the torch before opening up her own hatch to take a look for herself.

"Captain, if they've got some fin and HESH rounds I wouldn't mind a few extra." Corporal Brown said. "Some extra 7.62 wouldn't go amiss either."

"A bit of extra fuel would be nice too, Captain." The driver, Private David 'Stirling' Moss added.

"Who, lads, hold your horses, we don't know what sort of re-supply it is yet. It could just be tea and biscuits." Currie cautioned.

She swung herself up out of the hatch and onto the turret roof, remembering to grab her rifle, just in case, one never knew when Spetsnaz might be about.

Captain Currie could just make out a couple of DROPS vehicles unloading pallets of ammunition, but just beyond them was something rather more unusual, a pair of Alvis Stalwart Mk.3s fitted with bulk fuel installations. Like the last Centurion AVRE 165s the best of the last Stalwarts had been withdrawn from regular army service; they had been replaced by the DROPS family which did not have the same level of off road ability, or amphibious capability; and handed over to a couple of Territorial Army regiments.

Like the Centurion the 'Stolly' had also been upgraded, in its case the old Rolls Royce B81 MK 8B petrol engine had been replaced by the Cummins 6B250 diesel engine, which was also used by the upgraded FV430 Mk.4 'Bulldog'. Spare parts were not too much of a problem as the army had retained a large number of worn-out Stalwarts in storage to act as a source of spares. Until a new vehicle with similar capabilities was developed at least some 'Stollies' would remain in service.[ii]

The leading Stalwart drove up and parked between Captain Currie's tank and the Chally 2 parked next to it.

"Do you need a top-up?" A female voice asked from the semi-darkness.

"Yes, thanks. I don't want to run short when it's really inconvenient." Currie replied. "Collins, Moss, give them a hand if they need it."

"Right, ma'm." The loader and driver replied.

There was a pregnant pause from the 'loggies' aboard the Stalwart. Evidently they had not been expecting to find a female tank commander.

"Right oh, ma'm." The female 'loggie' finally replied, stepping across to the tank deck with the fuel hose. "Can't give you any stamps, or points with this fill-up I'm afraid, ma'm." She said with a smile, her white teeth very visible in the dark.

"I'm sure I'll survive." Currie replied with a chuckle.

*

Some distance to the west another British officer was standing on the turret of a tank. In this case the officer was COMNORTHAG, General Sir David Horne, and the tank was an ex-Soviet T-80UM-1 Bars, captured along with a large number of other Soviet armoured vehicles during Operation 'TELIC'.

Like most of the vehicles assembled here the T-80 had run out of fuel and had been abandoned by its crew. Fortunately for NATO's intelligence efforts many Soviet armoured vehicles had been abandoned behind what was now the British frontline.

"So this is the famed Arena system then?" Horne commented, indicating an armoured box on the turret roof. "Is it any good?"[iii]

"When it works, Sir." Colonel Clive Egleton replied. "We've found that it is vulnerable to artillery fragments, cannon fire and even large calibre bullets. It does have some trouble with top attack missiles and it can be saturated, or jammed. It's a bit harsh on any infantrymen close to the tank as well.

"However getting a close look at it like this will make developing counter-measures far easier. Previously we've only had photos and reports from BRIXMIS to go on."

General Horne peered down into the commander's hatch into the turret.

"Bloody hell, they must be midgets in the Soviet armoured corps." He remarked. "I know that they are supposed to assign small men to tank units, but it must be like fighting in a telephone box in there."

"Bit less room than in your old Chieftain then, Sir?" Egleton asked with a wry grin.

"I think I'd get stuck in the hatch, even when I was a young man. I wouldn't like to have to bale out of there in a hurry." COMNORTHAG replied.

Horne carefully climbed down from the T-80, rejoining Egleton on the ground.

"Right, I've seen enough here. Time to go and have a look at the BMP-3; is it the ergonomic nightmare that the infantrymen say it is?"

"Well to get out one does have to open both the roof and rear hatches and climb over the engine, so I would hardly say that it is ideal from a dismount's perspective."

"Clive, when this war is over I'm going to try and ask a Soviet designer why they abandoned what was a reasonable layout in the BMP-1 and 2 and went for something that will impede troops debussing, and it's not as if the armour on the BMP-3 is significantly superior. The RARDEN has little trouble penetrating it."

"Well, Sir, the BMP-3 must be one of those strange Soviet enigmas that makes sense to them, but nobody else." Egleton opined.

2210 hours. USS Kitty Hawk, the Persian Gulf.

Captain Charles Seavey had only just dropped off to sleep in his cabin when he was woken by a knock at the door.

"Yes, what is it?" He said somewhat grumpily.

"Message from CINC-CENTAF, Sir." The messenger said, hoping to avoid CAG's wrath for disturbing him. "It's an Air Tasking Order and a personal message for you."

"An ATO?" An exasperated CAG asked. "I take it that means that my request for a stand-down before BAGDAD THUNDER has not been approved, then?

"What's CINC-CENTAF's message?"

"He, ah, wants to remind you that there is a war on and nobody else is getting a holiday, as he puts it."

"Yeh, well I'd like to see the blue suits fly at the sort of op tempo we've been doing.."

Seavey swung his legs out of the bunk and began to get dressed.

"Okay, I want a staff meeting in fifteen minutes and a meeting with all C.Os and X.Os in an hour. I'm sure that they're going to love this particular piece of news."

*

Ten minutes later as Seavey was sitting at his desk waiting for his staff to arrive he had a look over the Air Tasking Order. It was certainly going to keep the air wing busy and at a time where he would rather prefer to keep the operational tempo to a minimum.

The last thing he needed right now would be to have to re-draw the BAGDAD THUNDER plan because key personnel and aircraft had been lost on less important missions. There was one decision he had taken already, though, he was going to participate in one of the missions himself, flying an A-6F; after all he had to maintain currency in more than just the F-14D.

"Good morning, boys and girls." He said as his staff entered the cabin. "It seems that we won't be getting the rest I've asked for; CINC-CENTAF has just sent us an Air Tasking Order.

"We'll be spending tomorrow hitting targets in southern Iraq and carrying out CAS and BAI in Kuwait."

There was a very audible groan from the assembled officers. They were all exhausted and could have done with twenty-four hours of minimal operations.

"We've been victims of our own success, it seems. The army has requested our air support as apparently we're better at it than the air force.

"COMCENTAF also wants us to hit Umm Qasr Naval Base and take out the frigate al-Hammurabi if she's there and any other smaller vessels if she's not. It seems that only the navy can attack another navy." He told them.

"We're going to be busy then, Sir." One of the targeteers observed. "At least the SAM sites at Umm Qasr and Al Faw have been taken out, so the only threat should come from the frigate herself, and from MANPADs."

"I'm afraid we are." Seavey confirmed. "The only consolation is that we are not on CENTAF's night flying schedule, the marines will handle that."

2123 hours. HMS Bristol, HMNB Portsmouth, Hampshire.

"How are you getting on?" Captain Yoxall asked the IT technician, directing his question to the man's legs.

Beside him was a small bag of tools and two dog-eared, battered manuals, one marked ADAWS-2 and the other ADAWS-4 (Action Data Automation Weapons System Mk.2 and Mk.4 respectively).

The IT tech slid out from the computer cabinet he had been working on.

"Not too bad thanks, Captain. It's a bit like working on a classic car though, and I can't say I've ever seen anything quite like this set-up.

"From what I've seen it seems to be an ADAWS-2 computer system upgraded with some elements of the ADAWS-4, which is used on the '42s. I'm always pretty amazed that these old systems can do as much as they can, I mean you've got a lap-top in your cabin, haven't you, Captain?"

"Yes I have." Yoxall replied.

"Well it has more computer power and memory than this whole set-up, though the microwave in the galley probably has more computing power come to think of it. In fact you could probably run everything in here with a couple of lap-top processors.

"Anyway, I don't think that the system should give you any more trouble."

Since Bristol was going to be spending a few hours at Portsmouth, while she was re-victualed and had her steam turbines checked, Captain Yoxall had decided to take advantage of the fact that the VT Group had a shipyard within the naval base and have one of their top IT men come over and have a look at the destroyer's troublesome computer system.

Of course he was more used to working on the ultra-modern Combat Management System of the Type 45 and Type 46. The oldest system he had worked on before he had worked on regularly was the Command System DNA (1) of the Type 23 frigate, which probably explained why the job had taken much longer than expected.

"Well thanks for the chance to work on this system, Captain. It has been a real education.

"Let me know if anything goes wrong before you leave."

"Don't worry I certainly will." Yoxall.

*

About ten minutes later Yoxall was down in the engineering spaces checking on progress on the steam turbines.

"Don't worry, Sir." Lt. Commander Stott told him. "Another couple of hours and we'll have this lot back together."

"Did you find the trouble, Chief?"

"Sure did, Sir, it was a few bits and bobs loose here and there. I'm glad we caught it though, if anything had come apart it could have been nasty and might well have caused a fire."

"Good work, Chief. I knew I could count on you." Yoxall told Stott, patting him on the shoulder and immediately regretting it when he realised that his hand was now covered in grease.

2315 hours. Olympic Stadium Complex, West Berlin.

The Soviet shelling of the complex had let up for a while; Major General Mallinson wondered whether they were running short of shells, or maybe gun barrels were red hot. In either case the break was welcome.

Standing before his desk was Major James Saunders, and the senior American and French armour officers. Saunders was the senior of the three, and had been chosen to make the proposal to the general.

"I believe you gentlemen have a proposal for me." Mallinson said.

"Yes, Sir we do. Would I be correct in saying that our supplies will probably begin to run out in another couple of days?"

Mallinson nodded; expenditure of ammunition, POL and medical supplies had all been far higher than expected. The situation would probably become critical in the next forty-eight hours.

"Well, Sir we feel that in that case the best use of our remaining armour would be in a counter attack against the Soviets. My American colleague has nicknamed it a 'Thunder Run'."

"It has a nice ring to it, don't you think, Sir?" The American Captain asked.

"Go on." Mallinson said.

Major Saunders unfolded a map of Berlin and laid it out on the desk.

"I believe that intelligence has identified a regimental headquarters, here and here, and a divisional headquarters here." He said pointing to the various locations. "My proposal is to push two strong armoured columns made up of tanks and other armoured vehicles up this street and this one parallel to it. They would overrun the regimental H.Qs and converge on the divisional H.Q before withdrawing to our defensive perimeter.

"The tanks will form the main striking force of the 'Thunder Runs'; fortunately they've stood up well in the fighting. For example I still have fourteen out of eighteen Challys operational, we've also been able to recover the four disabled tanks and with a good bit of cannibalisation two of those tanks should be operational in the next couple of hours.

"The two American tank companies have twenty Abrams between them and the French have seventeen Leclercs left. We also have plenty of Bulldogs, Strykers and VCBIs left."[iv]

"Have you spoken to your brigade commanders yet?" Mallinson asked.

"Yes, Sir." The three officers said in unison.

"They've all agreed to it, Sir, contingent on your approval."

Mallinson thought for a moment looking down at the map.

"Why not?" He said finally. "We may have to surrender in a couple of days, so we might as well go out with a bang.

"What else does your plan need?"

"We'll need as much fire support from the remaining M109s, heavy mortars and Lynx helicopters." Saunders replied.

"Don't worry, you'll get it."

2336 hours. Engels air base, RSFSR.

Colonel General Vladimir Zelin, the Commanding Officer of the 121^st Guards Heavy Bomber Regiment, had chosen to brief the two crews who would be carrying out this mission himself. It was a very sensitive operation, involving weapons that were still considered to be very secret, and he could not risk any sort of leak.

His regiment had been chosen to carry out this mission rather than the 184^th Guards Heavy Bomber Regiment based at Pryluky in the Ukraine because they were the only regiment in Long Range Aviation who had trained to use the weapon.

"Good morning, Comrades." Zelin said to the eight aircrew assembled before him. "Today you will be carrying out a mission of the greatest importance, though I am afraid that it will also be very dangerous. However should you succeed in your endeavour you will have brought victory for the Motherland."

Zelin crossed the floor to a map board, which was at the moment covered by a curtain. He pulled on the drawstring and revealed the map, which showed southern England, the North Sea and part of the Continent.

"Your targets, Comrades, are in southern England, just outside London." Zelin told them before pulling down a second more detailed map showing the area around Greater London. "They are the Air Defence Operations Centre at RAF High Wycombe, and the stand-by ADOC at RAF Bentley Priory.

"The Tu-22M boys have already tried to attack these sites with stand-off weapons, but it seems that they did not even manage to scratch the surface of the bunkers. Now it is going to be our turn."

"Comrade, General, does that mean that we will have to penetrate the enemy's air defences to employ the weapon?" The senior pilot asked.

"Yes it does, Comrade Colonel. We are planning to lay on a raid by Tu-22Ms and aircraft from Frontal Aviation to coincide with your mission and stretch the enemy's forces; you should be able to take advantage of the confusion to penetrate their defences and deliver the weapons." Zelin replied.

The aircrew seemed satisfied with this answer, but even so Zelin could sense that they were nervous at the prospect of penetrating a sophisticated defence system like the UK Air Defence Region with its multiple layers of fighters and Surface to Air Missiles even in a bomber as sophisticated and fast as the Tu-160. Well it would make a change from standing nuclear alert.

"Well, Comrades I wish you luck and I wish I was coming with you." Zelin told them.

From any other commander this might have sounded like an empty platitude, but Zelin still regularly flew his own personal Tu-160 on training flights and was well known for taking his turn on alert duty.

*

Half an hour later Colonel General Zelin watched as the two Tu-160s assigned to this mission were loaded with the single bomb that they would be carrying. At a weight of 7100 kg it was amongst the heaviest of the Soviet Union's non-nuclear weapons, and its slightly awkward shape meant that even a large bomber like the 'White Swan' could only carry a single example.

He pitied whoever would end up under those bombs when they went off, but war was war.

2350 hours. Extract of text from Presidential broadcast.

"My fellow Americans as many of you are aware the Soviet Union has again struck at our Homeland, attacking targets with no regards to the civilian casualties that they may cause. This time these attacks did not come from missile firing submarines lying off our coasts but from Soviet attack aircraft based in Cuba.

"We do not yet know the full extent of the casualties that were suffered in Florida, nor the damage inflicted on the targets that came under attack. For reasons of National Security I can not tell you what military and civilian targets were hit, or how badly damaged. I hope that you will understand that in time of war we can not give out any information that may be of use to our enemies.

"What makes today's attacks especially heinous, apart from the civilian casualties attacked, was that it was launched from an ostensibly neutral country. The Cuban government has strenuously denied that it assisted in the attack, or that it had foreknowledge. In the past the Cubans have also pledged to withdraw their forces from Southern Africa, which they have not, so it is doubtful that we can rely on Cuban assurances too strongly.

"I say to the Cuban government you must immediately intern all Soviet military personnel in your country and deny the Soviet Union the use of its bases in Cuba. If not then the United States and her allies will take action to neutralise them. In the meantime I have authorised a retaliatory strike against the Soviet air base from where the attack was launched, by this time the strike aircraft should already be on their way home.

"The United States and her allies have scrupulously avoided violating the territory and airspace of neutrals, such as Cuba and Vietnam, though it would have been all too easy for us to have done otherwise. These two countries in particular have not upheld their duties as neutral countries under International Law and if they do not do so then we will regard them as belligerents and treat them accordingly.

"As always our disagreement is with those regimes that do not live up to their legal and moral obligations, not with people only trying to live their lives. If we do have to act we will do our utmost to avoid any casualties amongst the civilian population.

"I am sure that today's attacks will not dim the great spirit of the American people, or harm their morale. I do not need to exhort you to continue to go to work, or to live your lives as normally as possible because I am confident that you will do that anyway.

"Our friends and allies in Europe have already demonstrated that civilians will not be cowed by Soviet air raids and I am confident that the American people are no different. These attacks will only strengthen our resolve to see this war through to a victory."

0001 hours GMT, 27^th April. Soviet Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq.

Most of the embassy was in darkness, partly because the vast majority of the staff had been evacuated, and partly because the emergency generator in the basement was only powerful enough to provide electricity to part of the building, mains electricity having long been cut off. Either the Iraqis had turned the supply to the city off, as they had done in 1991, or damage to the grid had caused a black-out.

The ambassador was down in the cipher room, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Firstly he was physically uncomfortable because there was not enough power to run most of the air conditioning and it was getting oppressively hot within the building. Secondly the use by Iraq of chemical weapons had left him feeling mentally uncomfortable.

When he had first heard the news he had expected to be reduced to radioactive air pollution in short order, though surprisingly the Americans had been very restrained in their retaliation. They had also employed chemical weapons, but only against military forces on the battlefield and on an airbase where further attacks were being prepared.

The Iraqi use of Weapons of Mass Destruction against a number of countries throughout the Gulf Region as well as against American forces and their allies had put the Soviet Union in a very difficult position. On one hand it did not want to be seen to condoning the attack and perhaps inviting such an attack on itself. On the other hand Iraq was an important Soviet ally in the Middle East and the USSR could not been seen to be abandoning its friends.

By not protesting about the American retaliation the Soviets had made it clear that they did not approve of the initial Iraqi attack, a message reinforced by the withdrawal of all non-essential embassy staff. However the military assistance group would be remaining in the country to assist with the operation of Soviet built weapons and to help gather intelligence; similarly the KGB and GRU stations would also remain operational.

The Soviets had also decided to beef up security at the embassy. The regular embassy guards had been reinforced by a company of highly trained paratroopers; included in the company were two platoons of Spetsnaz. They had fortified the embassy compound, officially to protect it from American air attacks, though the message to the Iraqis was pretty clear.

What had made the ambassador especially uncomfortable today was that the Iraqi Government had sent him an invitation to attend a parade of captured Coalition Prisoners of War due to take place on the 28^th. Through military liaison officers he had learned that the Iraqis were torturing the prisoners for information, and he felt that the Soviet Union had to disassociate itself from such behaviour if it was going to win the battle of World opinion.

Nevertheless he had sent a message to Moscow requesting instructions and recommending that no Soviet personnel attend.

"The message is just coming through now, Comrade Ambassador." One of the cipher staff said.

"Good let me see it, Comrade."

'CONCUR WITH YOUR RECOMMENDATION RE POW PARADE. WOULD BE DAMAGING TO WORLD IMAGE OF SOVIET UNION WERE YOU, OR ANY SOVIET PERSONNEL TO ATTEND.

'PASS ON MESSAGE TO IRAQI GOV THAT SOVIET UNION DOES NOT APPROVE OF PARADING POWS IN PUBLIC, BUT DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT PARADE BE CANCELLED. WOULD BE HELPFUL IF YOU COULD ARRANGE FOR SOVIET INTEL PERSONNEL TO INTERVIEW PRISONERS OF SPECIAL INTEREST.'

"Good, we'll that's one less thing I'll need to worry about." The Ambassador commented. "I can't imagine that the Iraqis will be too pleased though."

"Screw them, Comrade Ambassador, if you'll excuse my language." The general who commanded the military advisory group, who was also in the cipher room, said. "The Iraqis are barbarians who brought the current situation on themselves; when the current conflict is finished I think we must look at regime change. A saner and more pliable leader would be of use to Soviet interests."

***