GULF WATCH: Day 100 : A Daily Briefing Paper On Developments In The Crisis

Military Front:

Despite the imminent deployment of more than 200,000 additional U.S. military personnel to the Persian Gulf, Pentagon officials confirmed that they have postponed plans to begin rotating any of the 238,000 troops already assigned to the region.

Although the decision could undermine troop morale, officials said they want to keep U.S. forces at maximum strength in case they are needed for a military offensive against Iraq.

The new deployment will take up to two months to complete, officials said.

Even so, one senior Bush Administration official said the United States is determined to end the stalemate quickly once the additional forces are in place.

Military authorities have punished 12 American servicemen in Saudi Arabia for violating a strict rule forbidding alcohol consumption in the desert kingdom, and they are considering more severe action against another 12 offenders, officials said. Diplomatic Front:

Although President Bush has not said so explicitly, other officials acknowledged that the near doubling of U.S. military forces in the Persian Gulf is intended as an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein: Either pull out of Kuwait or prepare for war.

The United Nations rejected an Iraqi request to discuss the presence of U.S. troops in the gulf. Iraq reiterated previous threats to destroy oil fields in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia if it is attacked by other nations. Hostage Front:

Three Americans were among 174 Western hostages who flew to freedom with former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt. The hostages included Miles Hoffman, an American who had been shot in the forearm as he tried to crawl through a window when Iraqi soldiers entered his Kuwait apartment in September. U.S. Navy Warships to Be Dispatched to the Gulf:

Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier group

America aircraft carrier group

Ranger aircraft carrier group

Missouri battleship and escort ships