GULF WATCH: Day 146 : A Daily Briefing Paper on Developments in the Crisis
Military Front: Senior defense officials have advised the White House that the military will not be ready to attack Iraq until several weeks after the Jan. 15 deadline set by the United Nations for withdrawal from Kuwait. If President Bush accepts a military recommendation for a delay, it will give Iraq’s Saddam Hussein some breathing room.
U.S. troops gathered in the shadow of war to observe Christmas with carols, religious services and traditional turkey dinners.
Diplomatic Front: Saudi Arabia and its five Arab allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council concluded a summit in Qatar without any new breakthroughs on a peaceful resolution to the Kuwait crisis. But the nations issued a last, uncompromising demand for Iraqi troops to withdraw or face “the perils of a devastating war.”
Hints of compromise emerged in mixed signals from Baghdad, but in general the government’s hard line toward Kuwait remained unaltered. In several interviews, Hussein has stuck to his contention that Kuwait is an inalienable part of Iraq.
Latest Gulf Deployment Figures:
* U.S. troops: 280,000+
* Allied troops: 220,000
* Iraqi troops: 510,000
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