Trappings of power: ballistic missiles in the Third World

Since the beginning of the crisis precipitated by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, the threat posed by Iraq's arsenal of ballistic missiles has been the focus of international attention.

In the opening days of the U.S.-led military counteroffensive beginning on January 16, 1992, Iraq launched ballistic missiles against population centers in Israel and military bases in Saudi Arabia.

The attacks intensified the terror of the war and prompted renewed efforts by the multinational force to destroy Saddam Hussein's military machine.The countries aligned against Iraq were prepared for attacks by chemically armed missiles, but Iraq's missile force proved to be of little military consequence.

The missiles that survived the opening hours of Operation Desert Storm were conventionally armed, inaccurate and unreliable.

Most of those that were actually launched either were intercepted by American antimissile defenses or failed to hit vital