THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 28, 1996 TAG: 9606280444
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL SIZEMORE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 74 lines
Defense Secretary William J. Perry said Thursday the United States will take steps to heighten the security of American troops abroad against the threat of terrorist attacks like the truck bomb that killed 19 U.S. airmen Tuesday in Saudi Arabia.
But he warned that there is no way to completely shield military personnel from the risk of such attacks.
``We do not protect peace and stability in the world by not taking risks,'' Perry said. ``And we are also not going to have our troops live in bunkers 24 hours a day.''
Perry spoke at a news conference after addressing a seminar on the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at NATO's Atlantic Command headquarters in Norfolk.
If increased security measures had not been taken in response to earlier terrorist threats, Perry said, the casualty toll from Tuesday's blast could have been much higher.
For instance, he said, security barriers and fences had been erected around U.S. bases and residences. ``If not for that,'' he said, ``we would probably be looking at well over 100 fatalities.''
He also said security patrols have been added to U.S. installations. He noted that a security officer on the roof of the apartment building damaged in the blast had spotted the truck carrying the bomb and was able to sound an alarm in time for some personnel to get out of the building.
He also pointed out that the truck had been turned away after trying to enter the compound.
In response to a question about the proximity of the security fence to the apartment building - about 35 yards - Perry said it could not have been built any farther away because it abuts a public street.
The only other alternative, he said, would have been to remove troops from buildings near public thoroughfares - an option he said is now under consideration.
Also being considered, he said, are increasing security patrols and pulling military dependents out of high-risk areas.
He said the truck bomb, which contained an estimated 5,000 pounds of explosives, was the largest ever used in a terrorist attack. U.S. security planning must now be revised to account for the risk of bombs that large, he said.
In his remarks to the NATO seminar, titled ``Challenges of the 21st Century,'' Perry said the post-Cold War era demands that U.S. military forces be prepared to fulfill a peacekeeping role in addition to maintaining the capability to fight a major conflict.
And, he added, as the bomb in Dhahran shows, ``all of this will be complicated by operating in an environment where our forces are subjected to terrorism.''
In answer to another question, Perry said he doesn't believe it will be necessary to extend the NATO peacekeeping mission in the former Yugoslavia beyond its current one-year mandate, which ends in December.
However, he said earlier this week that if NATO decides an extended mission is necessary, he would recommend continued U.S. participation.
About 16,800 U.S. troops, mostly Army soldiers, are in Bosnia as part of the 60,000-strong NATO-led mission to enforce the peace accords that ended the Balkan civil war last fall. In addition, 10,000 sailors and Marines are stationed aboard ships in the George Washington carrier battle group in the Mediterranean, supporting the Bosnia mission with air patrols.
Perry plans to visit the George Washington and several other ships in the battle group next week during a five-day European trip that will include a Fourth of July stopover with American GIs in Bosnia. ILLUSTRATION: Defense Secretary William J. Perry, speaking Thursday
at NATO's Atlantic Command headquarters in Norfolk, says that if
increased security measures had not been taken in response to
earlier terrorist threats, the casualty toll from Tuesday's blast in
Saudi Arabia could have been much higher.
MOTOYA NAKAMURA
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