The Gathering Storm

What began as a modest increase of American naval power in the Persian Gulf is suddenly evolving into a growing multiservice commitment. Army helicopter gunships are being rushed to the area. The Navy is sending over fast patrol boats of the kind used by its special-warfare SEAL teams. Meanwhile, a 2,000-man Marine Corps unit trained for commando operations waits nearby in the Arabian Sea. Secretary of State George P. Shultz has tried to assure Iran that nothing provocative is intended by these developments. But Richard Murphy, his deputy for the Middle East, concedes that Iran may feel challenged to respond to the U.S. actions--if not by military action in the gulf, then by terrorism somewhere else.

The hasty American buildup reflects a belated appreciation of military realities that had earlier been ignored. When the Reagan Administration decided months ago to expand the U.S. presence in the Persian Gulf, it was most worried about the Silkworm missiles that Iran had acquired from China. What has since become clear, though it should have been so from the beginning, is that the greater risks to the U.S. vessels and to the Kuwaiti tankers that they are trying to protect come from Iran’s mines and the high-speed attack boats that are operated by its Revolutionary Guards. The equipment now on its way to the gulf is meant primarily to defend against these threats.

As always, though, there is a narrow line between defense and offense--or, in this case, between self-protection and inferred provocation. The helicopter gunships, for example, are supposed to stop attacks against shipping by Iran’s fleet of speedboats. Does this mean that the choppers are obliged to wait until one of these boats starts a hostile run at a ship, or can action be taken as soon as a boat is spotted, or even when it is still in port? A lot can depend on which answer governs the rules of engagement, maybe even including the question of who will be responsible for firing the first shot.

The Persian Gulf, a war zone for the last seven years, is suddenly becoming an increasingly dangerous place--one where, as the 1973 War Powers Act put it, hostilities involving the United States might be imminent. More than 100 Democratic members of Congress have now gone to court seeking to force President Reagan to invoke that act. It should not require a lawsuit, though, to awaken both the Administration and Congress to the wisdom and the value of intensive bipartisan consultations about the dangers facing U.S. forces in the gulf and the full implications of American policy there. If something approaching a national political consensus on the gulf could be reached, then just maybe a way could be found to prevent an inherently bad situation from becoming worse.