Do the Saudis Understand the Problem? : U.S. forces handcuffed by training restrictions that may impede combat capability

The United States has sent tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of planes and tanks to Saudi Arabia, at that country’s invitation, to deter Iraqi aggression. Monday, in his United Nations speech, President Bush again denied any interest in a permanent U.S. presence there, reaffirming that American forces will remain only so long as they are needed. How long that might be no one knows. But what every military commander does know is that while these units are in Saudi Arabia, it’s vital to keep their fighting abilities honed. For reasons of its own, the Saudi regime seems to be insensitive to this need.

The majority of U.S. troops now in Saudi Arabia are being denied the chance to train with live ammunition. This is no small thing. The conditions these forces face differ greatly from the home-base environments most came from. Those conditions--heat, humidity, blowing sand--can affect the accuracy and reliability of weapons. It’s especially important for tank and artillery units to be able to test fire and calibrate their weapons. But the Saudis have agreed to make available only a single live fire range for all U.S. forces, wholly inadequate given the number of U.S. troops committed. As a result, says one commander, many fighting men “won’t know how things work until the shooting starts.”

That is utterly and unequivocally unacceptable.

What kind of risks are the Saudis running with the military effectiveness and maybe even the lives of Americans sent to protect their regime? U.S. officials say the Saudis are concerned that unexploded shells from live-fire exercises could endanger desert nomads. Really? Saudi Arabia’s land area is about equal to the United States east of the Mississippi River. It is beyond belief that in all this vast desert acreage no room can be found for U.S. gunners and pilots to test their weapons without imperiling nomadic herdsmen.

There may be a more likely--certainly a more plausible--explanation for the Saudis’ policy. The rapid buildup of U.S. and other foreign forces over the last seven weeks has virtually erased any chance of an Iraqi invasion. Feeling secure now because of the American presence, the Saudis seem little inclined to worry about the fighting quality of those forces.

Instead, their secretive and xenophobic attitudes are again prevailing. They will keep the foreigners isolated to the greatest extent possible, even denying them adequate firing ranges. U.S. commanders are worried. They have every right to be.