THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 11, 1994 TAG: 9410110014
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Iraq's United Nations ambassador indicated yesterday that his country was pulling its troops back from the Kuwaiti border. If that is indeed the case and the crisis is over (for the moment), then that is to be applauded. President Clinton's strong response, including dispatching the carrier George Washington and the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division to the area, demonstrated American resolve and might well have caused the Iraqi dictator to think twice about repeating his mistake of 1990-91.
But it is to be hoped that the chief executive carries some lessons away from this experience. In 1992, then-candidate Bill Clinton and his party roundly criticized President George Bush for spending too much time on foreign policy. Once elected, President Clinton served notice he would be a ``domestic'' president. The world, however, refuses to go away.
The consensus appears to be that Saddam Hussein's movement of troops to the Kuwaiti border was a massive bluff, an effort to bully the Western world into lifting economic sanctions imposed during and after the Persian Gulf war. But as those with long memories will recall, the consensus in 1990 was also that Saddam was bluffing about an invasion of Kuwait. That time, he thought he could get away with it. This time, he has apparently decided differently, though it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the Iraqi strongman thought he could succeed now where he failed then.
The wherewithal, for instance, to rerun Desert Storm to a very large extent no longer exists. In 1990, the United States had more than 300,000 military personnel stationed in Europe. In just four years, that number has fallen to barely more than 100,000. The near 600-ship Navy that Ronald Reagan bequeathed to the nation is slated to shrink to barely half that size. Readiness, so indispensable for successful operations, has fallen off badly. Witness the grounding of numerous F-14s at Oceana for lack of training money.
Diplomatically, the president has not inspired confidence. Jimmy Carter's efforts in North Korea and Haiti, whatever one thinks of the outcome, have not conveyed an image of an administration that is on top of the nation's foreign policy. Saddam might well have been emboldened.
If the renewed crisis in the Gulf has indeed been short-circuited, we can all give thanks and the president deserves credit for taking the necessary action. But it should serve as a salutary lesson that the end of the Cold War does not mean the end of the need for a strong and credible military.
KEYWORDS: IRAQ
by CNB