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Tuesdav November 6. 1990 / Universitv Daliv Kansan
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U.S. to command combat troops Soldiers defending Saudi Arabia to be under joint command
The Associated Press
Soldiers defending Saudi Arabia to be under joint command
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Secretary of State James A. Baker III reached an agreement yesterday with King Fahd of Saudi Arabia that if U.S. troops are sent into combat against Kuwait they will be under U.S. command, a senior Bush administration official said.
The decision on command and control was announced after Baker conducted a two-hour meeting with the king.
The official, who insisted on anonymity, said the Saudis would play a decisive role in two ways — they would share command of U.S. troops used to defend Saudi Arabia and would have to give a green light before the more than 100,000 U.S. oil-rich kingdom are sent into action.
Once the troops go into battle U.S commanders will direct them, the official said.
Before Baker met with the King Fahd and Prince Saud, the Saudi foreign minister, he talked with the exiled emir of Kuwait. After leaving the country, he met where he met with the emir, Baker spoke of the situation in dire terms.
"This crisis is entering a new phase," he said, "and while we still seeking a peaceful political and diplomatic solution we have to put ourselves in a position where we can make suitable options that might be available."
Baker did not elaborate, but the U.S. official said he meant the United States and its allies were bringing
increasing pressure to bear on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Baker implied a heightening of tensions in the region and a redoubled U.S. resolve to evict Iraq from Kuwait.
"I don't think that we can or should we rule out resort to force if that should be necessary," he said.
Baker visited the emir in Taif on the second leg of a seven-country trip designed to test support among Arabs, Europeans and the Soviets for military action against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The exiled emir, Sheik Jabar al-
Ahmed al-Sabah, insisted on
Kuwait's liberation.
"What I would like to see is the liberation of Kuwait as soon as possible, whether through the Security Council or not," the emir said.
Baker said that he had not discussed a military timetable with the emir. Also, he said the entire international community was seeking a peaceful solution to Iraq's occupation of Kuwait.
The emir, asked if a date shouls set now for a military offensive to evict the Iraqis, replied, "This is up with the Council of the United Nations."
But then, he added quickly, "As far as I am concerned, I would like my country to be liberated today and before tomorrow."
The Bush administration takes the position that nations under the U.N. charter have a right of self-defense and should approve by the world organization.
In that regard, President Bush and Baker have placed great stress lately on the hostage-taking and the siege of the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait.
As a matter of policy, however, the administration would like any military move against Iraq approved by the Council as a whole, just as to economic and political measures to pressure Baghdad were adopted.
An official of the ousted Kuwaiti regime, meanwhile, offered to negotiate with Iraq over President Saddam Hussein's territorial claim against Kuwait at the gulf's northern tip.
'Even before the Aug. 2 invasion, ousted Housing Minister Yahia al-Sumait said, Kuwait's rulers were ready to discuss the dispute. And now he said, "we are ready to sit and negotiate. . . . It's up to them."
The Kuwaiti said that if Iraq withdrew its troops they would be able to bring up the territorial issue.
Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait has thrown the royal family into a tainship. Three young Kuwaitis said at a news conference that they had been tortured by the Iraqis. One young man said he escaped with the assistance of a guard who accepted a bribe.
Before the invasion Kuwait had an estimated population of about 1 million Kuwatitis and a million and a half foreign workers.
The invaders have driven the Kuwait population down to 300,000 to 400,000. Kuwait officials said.
Poll shows Americans expect U.S.-Iraq war
Briefs
A majority of Americans say the United States should attack Iraq if American hostages are mistreated or if an embargo fails to force Iraqi troops from Kuwait, a poll released yesterday said.
Nearly seven in 10 respondents expect that the United States will become involved in a war with Iraq, the survey showed.
Bush's approval rate overall was 59 percent, up from 51 percent last week when the president's ratings dropped apparently because of criticism of his approach to budget negotiations with Congress.
The poll, conducted by ABC News, also said 65 percent of the respondents approved of President Bush's handling of the crisis in the Persian Gulf. That figure is about four times as the result of a poll last month.
But Bush's approval rating for a president heading into midterm elections is second only to former President Bill Clinton, who famously's 61 percent in October 1962.
The telephone poll was conducted Nov. 2-4 among a random sampling of 1,089 voters. It has a margin of error or minus 3.5 percentage points.
They're thousands of miles from voting booths, but about 50 Kansas
U.S. soldiers to vote by fax from the gulf
and Missouri soldiers in Saudi Arabia will cast ballots in today's election — via fax
Soldiers who wish to vote usually request absentee ballots well in advance of elections, said Hank Valentino, director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program in Washington.
But the vote-by-fax program was started last month because the emergency nature of Operation Ivy allowed some soldiers off guard, he said.
The ballots are being sent at no cost from facsimile machines in the United States to facsimile machines at election boards in the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. set up the Desert Fax service.
Israel spends $1 billion to keep its army alert
Israel has spent nearly $1 billion to raise the army's alertness because of the Persian Gulf crisis, Israeli officials said. The Moors Msehans said yesterday.
"The gulf crisis has forced Israel to raise its level of alert, to mobilize certain reserve units and reorganize the positioning of some forces," Naveh said that Arens had said.
Spokesperson Danny Navel quoted the minister from a speech to the U.S.-Israel Chamber of Commerce in Tel Aviv.
The remarks also were broadcast on state radio and television
Arens said the moves cost Israel
about $1 billion and that he had asked the United States for more military assistance to cover the costs. Navve said.
Israel has so far maintained a low profile in the crisis, which began when Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2.
The army has distributed gas masks to Israeli citizens after Iraqi threats to attack with chemical weapons. The military announced yesterday that it would issue the masked foreign nationals from Nov. 12-16.
'Second front' idea makes Turkey nervous
Whenever the military option is debated as a solution to the Persian Gulf crisis, eyes turn to Turkey's military force of 800,000 men, the second-largest standing army in the Western alliance.
Under the scenario of a "second front," Turkish soldiers, supported by U.S. aircraft, could push from the into Iraq into whil the allied war machine in Saudi Arabia attacked from the south.
But President: Turgut Ozal, speaking to reporters last week, said any such scenario was a "fierment of the imagination."
Secretary of State James Baker III, who visits Turkey this week, is being to pin down allies about his mistress to fight Saddam Hussein.
Such talk makes many Turks nervous.
From The Associated Press
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