			Foreign Correspondent

		      Inside Track On World News
	    By International Syndicated Columnist & Broadcaster
		 Eric Margolis <emargolis@lglobal.com>

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FORTRESS IN THE CLOUDS
by
Eric Margolis  15 Oct 1996



ANDERMATT, Switzerland - - The roar of exploding shells and
the sharp staccato of machine gun fire echo through the
Alps, amplified by the steep, narrow valleys of
Switzerland's "National Redoubt."

Small groups of infantrymen move across the boulder-strewn
mountainsides, almost imperceptible in their camouflaged
uniforms.  Overhead, combat helicopters dart about in the
thin Alpine air while above them terrain-hugging fighters
weave death-defying patterns around snow-capped crags.

It's fall manoeuvre time for Switzerland's citizen armed
forces.  Here at Andermatt, the nerve-center of this
nation's military, the fierce commitment of the Swiss to
defense is dramatically evident.  Though Switzerland has
only 7 million people, it is a major military power, with
intelligent, well-trained soldiers.  Like the ancient
Romans, Swiss believe a democracy at arms is the surest
safeguard against internal tyranny or foreign aggression.

The Swiss are exceptionally secretive about their defenses. 
It took me a year to secure permission to visit the mighty
fortress of Gutsch, guardian of this nation's most strategic
corridor, the St. Gothard Pass. Since the dawn of history,
armies have struggled over this torturous defile, the
principal nexus connecting northern Europe with Italy and
Austria.  Hannibal's army may have crossed here on the way
to assail Rome.  On a mountainside, I was elated to see a
monument commemorating the great Marshall Suvarof, who took
his Russian army with its guns across the Gothard in the
dead of winter during the French Revolutionary wars.

Bored into the crest of a massif at altitudes about 7,000
feet, Gutsch is the highest fortress in Europe.  I was met
by a staff officer of the Swiss "Fest Wachtkorps," or
fortress command, and taken by military cable car on a
vertiginous ascent to the summit of Gutsch.

Gutsch was the last of the vast, 1940's vintage forts. 
Underground galleries, dug out of living granite, extend
some 300 feet beneath the surface (exact  details are
secret), containing living accommodations for the 400-man
garrison, munitions storage, command centers and a power
plant.

A heart-pounding climb up 270 feet of wet steps through a
dank tunnel took me into one of Gutsch's 105 mm gun turrets. 
Other tunnels lead off to machine-gun positions. Exiting
through 8-inch thick steel doors and a camouflaged portal, I
left the Stygian interior and emerged onto the sun-washed,
snowy summit of the mountain.

On the surface, Gutsch's gun and mortar batteries are
covered with fake rock facade, making them look like
boulders.  The Swiss are experts in such military tromp
l'oeil.  Earlier, I had walked within two feet of the hidden
gunports at the fort of Furigen without ever seeing them. 
All through the Alps, mountain sides suddenly open, to
reveal cannon, mortars, machine guns and command posts. 
Hangers are dug into mountains.  Fighters can take off
directly from their disguised exits and then land on
reinforced roads.  Rumor even has it that there is a
mountain side that rolls back to reveal an airfield.

Gutsch's modern, Swiss-made 155 mm guns, with a range over
30 km, have 5-round magazines that can deliver devastating
salvos of shells carrying swarms deadly, armor-piercing
submunitions.  Interestingly, Gutsch's 155's are positioned
to fire towards the east, covering the valleys that lead to
Austria.

In fact, much of the elaborate Swiss fortress system was
modernized and reoriented against the possible threat of a
Soviet invasion through neutral Austria.  The Red Army
planned a surprise drive through Switzerland to outlflank
NATO defenses to the north of Germany - a modern version of
Germany's Schlieffen Plan in World War I.  Today, the Swiss
still feel a threat from the east, though they will never
openly admit it.

The end of the Cold War caused the Swiss to grudgingly
reduce their armed forces from 600,000 to a mere 400,000 men
- which is still larger than the armies of France and
Germany.  The army is beefing up its force of 1,100 armored
vehicles with new Leopard II tanks and self-propelled 155 mm
guns.  The air force now has F-18's in service, supported by
the most advanced radars.  Well-stocked bomb shelters can
protect the entire population.

All Swiss males from 20 to 40 must serve annually; most keep
their automatic weapons and uniforms at home.  Military
service fosters national cohesion in this country of four
languages, and instills cooperation, character and maturity 
in young men.  Half the armed forces can be mobilized in
less than 24 hours; the rest within 72 hours.

Why do Swiss expend so much effort and money on defense? 
Swiss mountaineers were the first people in Europe to
overthrow feudalism.  They won independence and forged
democracy on such hallowed battlefields as Sempach,
Morgarten and Morat - names to stir the hearts of all free
men.

For three hundred years, armies of ferocious Swiss pikemen
and halbardiers were the terror of Europe.  Only artillery
was finally able to halt the "Furia Helvetica."

The Swiss, who have mountains of gold and cash in their
banks, know they live in an unpredictable, dangerous world
where friendly neighbors can swiftly turn rapacious.  The
example of rich, defenseless Kuwait is a vivid example. 
Swiss have learned that arms, not pieces of paper, guarantee
their independence.

copyright  eric margolis 1996

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