Dannemeyer Lauds Bush’s Handling of Gulf Crisis : Conflict: On his return from a fact-finding trip to the Middle East, he tells reporters he wants no part of a confrontation that isn’t mounted to win.

Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) returned late Monday from a weekend fact-finding tour of the Middle East expressing strong support for President Bush’s handling of the crisis.

Dannemeyer said commanders of the 50,000 American troops camped at the Saudi Arabian border with Kuwait assured him and 21 other congressmen who made the trip that “if war starts there . . . we’re not going to limit this struggle in terms of military activity to Saudia Arabia or Kuwait” and will not hesitate to hit targets in Iraq.

An aide to Dannemeyer, Paul Mero, said last week that Dannemeyer had reservations about the rapid deployment of American troops in the Middle East, largely because the United States receives a relatively small percentage of its oil from the region.

However, speaking on the Tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base on Monday night, Dannemeyer said his concerns revolved around the possibility that political considerations would limit military action should war break out between the United States and Iraq. Iraq precipitated the international crisis when it invaded Kuwait Aug. 2.

“I want no part of a military confrontation whereby American servicemen and servicewomen are putting their lives at risk if we are not in that effort to win the war,” Dannemeyer said. “That’s a concern every American should have.”

During the delegation’s inspection of U.S. forces near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, American military leaders told the congressmen, “ ‘If military targets are appropriate in Iraq, in the judgment of the military commander, they will be attacked,’ ” Dannemeyer said.

“The question no one can answer today is how long will we permit the (economic) embargo to continue before military action will be undertaken,” he added. “That’s a matter of judgment. That’s what we have a President for.”

During meetings between the delegation and King Faud of Saudi Arabia and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, both leaders expressed strong support for the American presence in the Middle East, Dannemeyer said.

He said the Saudi king vowed to provide an unspecified amount of money to help defray the cost of the multinational peacekeeping force, the bulk of which is Amercian troops.

The delegation, led by House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), visited Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt.

At a press conference at Andrews, Gephardt said the delegation believes the United States must press its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to assist the multinational peacekeeping efforts with ground forces and not just with weapons.

“We need more help and we need our NATO allies to have troops on the ground, and we will be calling for that in the days ahead,” Gephardt said.

Gephardt and House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.) also said the United States must press its allies for economic assistance. “We need burden-sharing,” Gephardt said.

Gephardt said the economic embargo on Iraq imposed by the United Nations has some “leakage,” but said it can be made to work.

Both leaders expressed strong support both for Bush’s deployment of American troops and for the job the troops are doing.