GULF WATCH: Day 75 : A Daily Briefing Paper On Developments In The Crisis

Diplomatic Front:

Kuwait’s exiled leaders, meeting in Saudi Arabia, ruled out any compromise with Iraq and called on the U.N. Security Council to quickly halt the obliteration of their nation.

While Iraq officially dismissed reports it is in a “conciliatory mood,” as PLO leader Yasser Arafat put it, Iraqi envoys tried to muster support in talks in Libya, Tunisia and Jordan. Military Front:

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, in London for talks on the gulf crisis, said the global embargo against Iraq is beginning to bite and “to tell on (Saddam Hussein’s) economy and his ability to sustain his military machine.” He said the United States is prepared to keep troops in Saudi Arabia for years, if necessary, to force Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait.

Navy officers, meanwhile, said Iraqi crewmen of a container ship cursed a U.S. boarding team, leading to tense moments before the vessel’s master agreed to change course. Economic Front:

World oil prices plunged nearly $2 a barrel in early trading as talk of a compromise turned traders’ expectations away from war toward a peaceful solution of the Persian Gulf crisis. Losses in U.S. Military Accidents: Army: 2 Air Force: 20 Marines: 8 Navy: 1 Number of helicopter crashes: 15 Number of fixed-wing aircraft crashes: 5 Number of deaths in air accidents: 27 Number of deaths in ground accidents: 4