Iraqi Soldiers Suffering From Lack of Sleep

EASTERN SAUDI ARABIA —  The round-the-clock allied air strikes on Iraq’s positions in Kuwait are depriving the Iraqis of something every soldier needs as much as ammunition and food: sleep.

Without sleep, military psychiatrists say, soldiers become disoriented. They make mistakes and judgment errors that can be fatal. Chances of battle shock increase.

U.S. commanders say soldiers need at least four hours of uninterrupted sleep nightly to function effectively--and they hope to provide that much for their troops even in most combat situations.

“Sleep deprivation deprives you of your ability to put energy into other defenses,” said U.S. Army psychiatrist William McDaniel. “It denies you of your ability to sort out your surroundings. The more tired you are, the less energy you have to think things through.”

Many of the Iraqis taken prisoner since the start of the intensified allied bombing show the effects of sleep denial and battle shock. They reach the border exhausted and mentally numbed. And when planes fly overhead at their prison compounds, some turn white and assume a fetal position, said Lt. Cmdr. Keith Boahm, commanding officer of a Marine field hospital.

“They’re very scared about what was going to happen to them,” he said.

This article was written in part from pool reports cleared by military censors.