U.S. Uncertain How to Protect Kuwaiti Ships

With barely a week to go until the United States begins protecting Kuwaiti oil tankers plying the troubled Persian Gulf, the White House still was uncertain Tuesday how the delicate job will be accomplished.

One White House official directly contradicted a statement made only Sunday by Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, who indicated that the U.S. military presence in the war-torn region will have to be increased by adding aerial support.

“No one is looking very seriously at the idea of full-time air cover,” the official said, pointedly criticizing Weinberger’s statement without mentioning him by name. “The voices that count are trying to dial things down. The key word is deterrence, not provocation.”

Cargo Ship Escorted

In a related development, the Pentagon disclosed Tuesday night that the Navy had escorted a Kuwaiti cargo ship carrying U.S.-made M-60 tanks, howitzer artillery and ammunition that had been sold to Bahrain. The ship arrived in Bahrain on Monday night “without incident,” the Pentagon said.

The remarks of the Administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, indicated the general sentiment at the White House, which views its plan to protect 11 Kuwaiti ships in the Persian Gulf as more a diplomatic issue--involving both international and domestic politics--than a military one.

While it must address questions of safety resulting from the Iraqi attack that killed 37 sailors aboard the Navy frigate Stark, the Administration also must deal with serious concern inside and outside the United States about stepping up U.S. military activity in the volatile region, where America has remained neutral in the 6 1/2-year-old Iran-Iraq War.

“It’s not in our interest to get into a public game of one-upmanship with the Iranians,” the White House official said.

In addition to such sensitive diplomatic issues, the Administration must deal with domestic fears about the lives of U.S. servicemen involved in the Kuwaiti mission. This has led the White House to try desperately to dampen speculation that the escort plan will involve a greatly increased military operation.

In fact, Weinberger’s comments notwithstanding, the Pentagon has not yet decided how it plans to carry out the operation. “The question of what kind of naval activity could take place in the future, including protection of Kuwaiti tankers . . . is really under study,” a senior Pentagon official said.

A Navy officer agreed, saying that the specific military aspects of the mission have yet to be defined. He said that the Administration is even studying the possibility that Saudi Arabia would assume a larger role, possibly involving greater use of U.S.-built AWACS electronic surveillance aircraft that Saudi and American crews now operate over the Arabian Peninsula.

Failed to Intercept Jet

The Saudis were criticized for failing to respond to a U.S. request that they intercept the Iraqi jet that attacked the Stark. Anger over this incident was one reason the Administration delayed a proposal to sell additional F-15 jet fighters to the Arab state last week.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said that a number of options are being considered, including the use of American warplanes to protect the tankers, changing the “rules of engagement” guiding the use of force by air crews and naval commanders and increasing the number of American warships in the area.

Weinberger, interviewed on two network television shows Sunday, declined to give details of the steps that will be taken but said “there should be air cover; there should be enough ships to protect the commercial ships they are escorting.”

The airplanes could be used to protect not only the tankers but also the Navy vessels operating in the gulf. After the May 17 attack on the Stark, which was unprotected by U.S. aircraft when the Iraqi plane approached, members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), called for greater use of air power.

In a statement Tuesday, the Department of Defense said that it had decided to offer escort protection to the Kuwaiti vessel carrying the military supplies because “it is important that the United States remain a reliable supplier of defense items to friendly countries. On a case-by-case basis, given the situation in the Persian Gulf, we will escort (such) shipments to friendly non-belligerent countries.”

The Administration had said nothing before Tuesday about using U.S. warships to escort foreign vessels carrying American-made arms.

For several months, American and Kuwaiti officials have been discussing changing some of Kuwait’s tankers from Kuwaiti to U.S. registration to bring them under American protection. The Persian Gulf city-state is an ally of Iraq, and its tankers have been targeted by Iran in the war.

Officials said Tuesday that the United States could begin the protection early next month, eventually extending it to 11 of Kuwait’s 22 tankers.

According to Administration officials, some of the many options being studied in the operation--all of which involve sensitive diplomatic factors--include providing air cover using land bases in the region, using carrier-based planes or doing the job without air cover.

In addition, the Administration would like to win support and assistance from Western allies that depend more heavily on Middle East oil than does the United States.

In response to this hope, however, the senior Pentagon official cracked: “Lots of luck.” The British and the French, he said, have already indicated that they are not interested in increasing their military roles in the region.

When asked whether Saudi Arabia or other moderate Arab states in the region are likely to provide bases for use by American aircraft, the Pentagon official replied, “Their whole attitude traditionally has been standoffish.”