Hussein Must Be Halted, White House Says : Middle East: Forcing Iraq out of Kuwait is in America’s national interest, Fitzwater says.

The White House, calling it in America’s “national interest to stop Saddam Hussein,” said today it is moving on all fronts, including diplomacy and military planning, to force the Iraqi dictator to end his occupation of Kuwait.

Sources said the carrier Independence moved close enough to the tense Persian Gulf region to launch fighter planes.

The White House said Secretary of State James A. Baker III will travel to Turkey this week, and Defense Secretary Dick Cheney has arrived in Saudi Arabia to open talks on “appropriate ways to defend their country.” Oil pipelines critical to Iraq’s oil distribution run through Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

President Bush also stepped up discussions with Western allies.

White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said Bush will meet over dinner tonight with Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney after meetings with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and NATO Secretary-General Manfred Woerner.

The White House continued its tough line on Iraq’s military invasion of Kuwait.

“It is true that Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait threatens regional and world stability, threatens OPEC and could force severe economic consequences on the United States,” Fitzwater said.

“From the moment the first Iraqi soldier entered Kuwait, it has been clearly in the national interest to stop Saddam Hussein. This is an overt situation. His tanks are real and moving. Our response is real and moving on all fronts, diplomatic, economic, political and military,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pentagon sources said the Independence and its carrier battle group are now on station in the Arabian Sea, a position that would allow it to launch fighter planes into the Persian Gulf region.

Officially, the Pentagon would say only that the huge warship was operating in the Indian Ocean, and that it is being escorted by eight smaller warships and four support ships.

Asked the purpose of Baker’s mission to Turkey later this week, Fitzwater said every country in the region faces “a degree of threat” from Iraq.

“We don’t know what Saddam Hussein’s intentions are. And certainly every country suffers a more indirect threat of OPEC takeover” by Iraq, he said.

He said the situation in the gulf “remains extremely serious. There is no information suggesting that Iraqi military units are departing Kuwait. To the contrary, the Iraqi military presence throughout Kuwait, including along the Saudi border, remains extremely large and threatening.”

Asked if Cheney was offering the Saudis assurances that the United States would defend the desert kingdom, Fitzwater said, “We have discussed military possibilities and our abilities with all the countries in the gulf. The defense of Saudi Arabia is of paramount concern.

“Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait threatens regional and world stability, threatens OPEC and could force severe economic consequences on the United States,” he said.

Fitzwater said Jordan’s King Hussein, who has defended Saddam, called Bush on Sunday night. He did not offer details.