U.S. Congressmen in Gulf Reiterate Intent to Drive Iraq Out of Kuwait : Bipartisanship: Members of both parties signal political support for American effort.

A blue-ribbon mission of American Congress members delivered assurances Saturday of political staying power for the U.S.-led effort to force Iraq out of Kuwait.

“There is tremendous support in Congress and among the American people for what President Bush has done,” House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt said on a midday tour of the La Salle, command ship of the Persian Gulf-based Middle East Task Force.

Heading a bipartisan delegation of 22 members of Congress, the Missouri Democrat was expected to deliver the same message Saturday night to Sheik Isa ibn Salman al Khalifa, ruler of this small island nation, now bristling with foreign armaments. The House mission will make further stops in the gulf region and Egypt.

Democrats and Republicans alike said political support for the American effort is solid, and none saw it as an issue in this fall’s elections. “The President has support on both sides of the aisle,” insisted Rep. William E. Dannemeyer, an Orange County Republican. “But one issue may come up,” added the budget-focused congressman. “Who’s going to pay for it all?”

As the confrontation with Iraq developed over the past month, some gulf state officials have expressed nagging concerns that the American commitment might flag in a drawn-out standoff. But they have been buoyed by the continuing buildup of U.S. and allied forces and now speak in hawkish terms.

Bahrain and other gulf states have opened their territory to foreign forces, and, according to military sources, American combat planes are now operating from the semi-secret Sheik Isa air base on Bahrain. No official confirmation has been made, but the forces are known to include F-16 fighters and Marine Corps aircraft.

As the Congress members toured the La Salle, the command ship Blue Ridge, newly arrived from the Philippines, was docked at Manama’s main port. The Blue Ridge is the flag vessel of Vice Adm. H. H. Mauz, who now heads U.S. Navy forces ringing the Arabian Peninsula.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Les Aspin, in shirt-sleeves as were many of the visitors in the sizzling summer heat of the gulf, told reporters:

“The support is there for the long haul. The American public does not object to deployments abroad. They do object when people are getting killed with no objective in sight.”

The Wisconsin Democrat suggested the objective was clear in the gulf--force the army of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait.

Asked whether he expected a long-term U.S. military presence in the region if the Iraqis withdraw, Aspin said it depends on the outcome of the confrontation. If Hussein is somehow toppled, he said, there will be no need for a major foreign presence in the region. If the Iraqi president retains power in Baghdad, “there will be a need for some sort of military force.” He suggested it could be a multinational force, including Americans, in Kuwait.

Rep. Dante B. Fascell, the Florida Democrat who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the few complaints he has received on the massive American military commitment have come from families of activated military reservists.

Fascell, who represents a heavily Jewish district in Miami and Miami Beach, answered a question about the Israeli position on the conflict by saying: “Nobody can step into the Israelis’ shoes in what they regard as necessary to the defense of their country.” But, he added, if the confrontation threatens to break into open conflict, the American-led multinational force, not the Israelis, “needs to speak first.”

A delegation of American senators arrived in Bahrain on Saturday night and will review the situation with American military officers and Bahraini officials today.

Meanwhile, British Foreign Minister Douglas Hurd was visiting nearby Qatar, which last week became the last gulf state to accept foreign troops on its soil in the crisis. He said the Qatari government has approved British plans to permit Oman-based Jaguar fighter-bombers to use Qatari airfields.