U.S. Forces Granted Kuwait Access : Persian Gulf: The 10-year agreement covers ships, planes and troops. Permanent bases are not included.

The United States and Kuwait, erecting the first pillar of the Bush Administration’s planned Persian Gulf security structure, have struck a 10-year agreement that will give U.S. troops, ships and warplanes access to Kuwaiti military facilities, the Pentagon announced Thursday.

With the accord, Kuwait becomes the first Persian Gulf country to agree to the highly visible presence of U.S. military personnel on Middle East soil.

At the same time, the Pentagon, rejecting the pleadings of several Kuwaiti leaders, ruled out any permanent U.S. military presence in Kuwait. The agreement “does not in any way open the door” for the establishment of U.S. bases there, said Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams.

Under the agreement, details of which are to be negotiated over coming months, U.S. ships will make port calls at several Kuwaiti ports, military equipment will be stored in Kuwaiti warehouses and U.S. forces will conduct training maneuvers with the Kuwaiti military inside Kuwait.

Williams said that the agreement probably will keep the number of U.S. troops in Kuwait close to its current level of 1,500, although most will rotate through the emirate for short stays. Williams said that the number of U.S. troops could fall to nearly zero from time to time. But the effect of the arrangement will be to have a near-permanent U.S. presence there, officials said.

“What we have in mind here is . . . people rotating in and out of the area on a continuing basis,” said Williams.

Bush Administration officials said that, once the accord is fully negotiated, it will provide for equipment for an armored brigade--roughly 200 armored vehicles--to be stored in Kuwaiti facilities.

Also included in the agreement, according to knowledgeable officials, are plans to conduct regular exercises in which U.S. warplanes would operate from Kuwaiti airfields. A knowledgeable official called the American plans for military cooperation with Kuwait “fairly modest.”

At the same time, Washington hopes to negotiate a series of agreements with other countries throughout the Gulf region that would allow U.S. forces rapid access to the area in an emergency.

In its efforts to strike other such deals, however, officials said that Washington has met with increasing resistance from key allies in the region, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Pentagon hopes eventually to negotiate an agreement to station elements of a regional headquarters for the U.S. Central Command in the United Arab Emirates and to warehouse another brigade or two of armored equipment in Saudi Arabia.

“This happens frequently with the Arabs,” said a senior Administration official. “When things have gotten better, their interest in associating with us seems to decrease. . . .”

“Some people may have thought we could just walk through the door the first day after the war and negotiate all these agreements,” said a knowledgeable Pentagon official. “That was unrealistic. We’re not disappointed, but we’re not going to get everything we want.”