Missile Command

FOR MOST AMERICANS, the Iraqi missile attack on Kuwait City early Saturday morning represented a new stage in the current war. This one got through. All twelve missiles previously fired from Iraq into Kuwait had been intercepted by U.S. Patriot missiles. That, at least, was the official Pentagon line.

“At this point, a total of 12 missiles have been fired,” said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, at the CENTCOM briefing on Friday, hours before the latest Iraqi missile attack. “We believe them to be in the Ababil-100 or Al Samoud family, and those have been launched from within Iraq toward Kuwait. We’re seeing a rate of about one per day at this point, and all of the threatening launches have been intercepted by Patriot missiles.”