Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 9, 1994 TAG: 9410120039
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The Pentagon also moved to place two additional Patriot missile batteries in Saudi Arabia and heightened the alert status for ships moving into the Gulf region, combat aircraft out of Europe and additional U.S. troops.
American forces are ``in a position right now where if Saddam Hussein does something, we can punish those forces,'' said Lt. Gen. John Sheehan, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Eager to respond firmly without overreacting, Clinton closely monitored developments but went ahead with plans to spend the weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.
In brief remarks upon his departure, Clinton spoke sternly, emphasizing each word of his statement: ``I want to make clear one more time, it would be a grave error for Iraq to repeat the mistakes of the past, or to misjudge either American will or American power.''
Pentagon officials said that in the past 48 hours, the Iraqis had increased their troop levels in the border region by 14,000 above the 50,000 previously positioned there, and additional troops were on the move. Leading elements of the Iraqi troops had advanced to within 20 kilometers of the Kuwaiti border, they said.
``There is no indication that they are preparing to invade Kuwait specifically; however, their mere presence is considered to be a threatening and menacing circumstance,'' said Maj. Gen. Pat Hughes, director of intelligence for the Joint Chiefs.
He added that the warning time for an invasion would be fairly short because of the close proximity to the border.
Defense Secretary William Perry, who spoke about the Iraqi situation upon his arrival in Haiti on Saturday, said Iraqi mechanized units were amassed less than an hour from the Kuwaiti border.
``Units that are already in position are too close for comfort,'' Perry said. ``They're too close for us to take this action lightly. ... We cannot afford to assume that this is just a bluff and that is why we are taking the actions that we are taking to reposition our forces and to alert the appropriate forces.''
The 4,000 Army soldiers were being deployed from Fort Stewart in Georgia, and Marines at Camp Pendleton in California and Camp Lejeune in North Carolina were put on heightened alert.
U.S. ships, including the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, continued to steam toward the Gulf.
The Pentagon said that when all U.S. ships are in position, the United States would have 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles within striking distance of Baghdad.
``We clearly have the capacity to go to downtown Baghdad,'' Sheehan said. ``That's one of the lessons I hope Saddam Hussein learned last time we did this.''
White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, interviewed on Cable News Network's ``Newsmaker Saturday,'' stressed the importance of a measured response at this point, saying Saddam could be simply trying to prod the United Nations to lift economic sanctions or could be responding to some internal difficulty.
``It is just important that it not be overestimated in terms of its possible impact,'' he said. ``We're not sure at this point what the implications are. For that reason, we just think it's better to approach the situation calmly.''
Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., voiced support for Clinton's action, adding, ``The message the U.S. and the world needs to send is clear: If Saddam acts against Kuwait, the world will respond.''
Secretary of State Warren Christopher, departing Saturday for the Middle East, made plans to stop in Kuwait on Wednesday to provide ``a very strong expression of our resolve to stand with Kuwait in this uncertain situation.''
Christopher said he had telephoned Kuwaiti Acting Prime Minister Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah to reaffirm strong U.S. support for Kuwait ``and our readiness to respond firmly to any Iraqi act of aggression.''
Responding to a question, Christopher said he had talked to Russian Foreign Minister Andrei V. Kosyrev, but added: ``I understand the Russians have warned the Iraqis against going too far.''
The United States has maintained a large amount of military weaponry and supplies in Kuwait, where troops train in the desert. There have been two or three such exercises every year since the Gulf War, using troops from Fort Stewart and from Fort Riley, Kan.
by CNB