Troops Moving to Key Offensive Sites : Strategy: U.S. forces are capable of launching forays into Kuwait but don’t plan to do so, officials say.

The United States is moving significant forces with offensive capabilities into positions from which they could launch forays into occupied Kuwait, military officials said Monday.

The troops also have received briefings on the position of Iraqi forces in Kuwait and on contingency plans should the United States decide to send forces across the Saudi-Kuwaiti border, the officials said.

They said such a move is unlikely unless Iraqi forces cross first into Saudi territory. But they also suggested that the buildup of U.S. forces with offensive potential could be causing Iraq to adjust its strategy, perhaps reducing the likelihood that Iraq will attack Saudi Arabia.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the Kuwait-directed troop and equipment movements as routine military procedure.

“I don’t see us going into Kuwait, but if those orders ever came we would obviously want to be ready,” one senior U.S. officer in Saudi Arabia said.

Said another official: “If it came down to that, we would have to move at lightning speed. So obviously, you take preliminary steps to bring up the level of readiness, regardless of the current plans.”

The U.S. mission in Saudi Arabia is described as defensive, and the first wave of troops to reach Saudi soil were those trained in tactics such as anti-tank warfare that could be used to thwart an Iraqi incursion into the Saudi kingdom.

But in the last few days, much of the troops and material that have arrived and moved into forward positions have been those considered to be designed for offensive missions.

These include elements of the 101st Airborne Division, an air-assault unit that transports its troops with helicopters; the 7th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which includes tanks, heavy artillery and Cobra attack helicopters, and other ground and naval forces usually geared toward offensive missions.

The battleship Wisconsin passed through the Suez Canal on Sunday and is expected to make its way around the Arabian Peninsula into the Persian Gulf, from which it could assist in any offensive mission. Marine amphibious forces also are arriving in the area, according to the officials.

Other attack-oriented naval forces that are in the area aboard aircraft carriers include A-6 attack bombers, F-18s and EA-6B radar-jamming planes.

Still, the United States and other countries participating in the multinational defense force in Saudi Arabia are far short of the numbers that military analysts believe would be necessary to mount a ground effort to force Iraqi troops out of Kuwait.

There are signs that the offensive-oriented buildup is having an effect on Iraq’s strategy.

Recent U.S. intelligence reports indicate that while Iraq is maintaining a formidable force near the Kuwait-Saudi border, it appears to be concentrating more on bolstering troops deployed in a crescent-shaped line facing the gulf, according to military officials.

“It looks to me that they think the Marines are coming ashore,” one officer familiar with intelligence reports said. Iraq’s defense, however, includes strategically placed artillery that would make any shore assault particularly bloody, another American official said.

The shift in Iraqi strategy appears to decrease further the prospect of an Iraqi foray into Saudi Arabia, said the officials.

Still en route is more heavy U.S. firepower, including elements of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division from Ft. Stewart, Ga., which is bringing its powerful M-1 tanks.

And troops continue to arrive in large numbers, many on commercial U.S. airliners. Passenger jets from Continental Airlines, TWA, United Airlines and Northwest Airlines landed at a Saudi air base Monday carrying U.S. troops and supplies.