Word: kuwaiti
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...Hormuz. Drawing up a wide range of such plans is routine procedure. Testifying to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Admiral William Crowe, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said nothing directly about the Silkworms. But speaking of the Reagan Administration's plan to have U.S. warships escort Kuwaiti tankers through the gulf, he warned, "There are no absolute guarantees that such an operation will be casualty free or that Iran will not escalate the sea war, which will present us with further difficult choices...
While Iran has so far refrained from firing on American vessels in the gulf, Tehran vowed to continue shooting at Kuwaiti tankers, regardless of the flag they fly. Since September the Iranians have attacked 29 ships in the gulf, 25 of them serving Kuwait. In a meeting with foreign journalists, the President denied that he was "daring" the Khomeini regime to open fire. But when asked how the U.S. would react, Reagan replied, "I think it's far better if the Iranians go to bed every night wondering what we might do than us telling them in advance...
...predicted Democratic Senator James Sasser of Tennessee. Said Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana: "The environment surrounding our Navy in the Persian Gulf is as dangerous as the exposure of our Marines in Beirut." Those fears were hardly allayed when Congress learned that U.S. ships had twice escorted Kuwaiti vessels, once in February and once last week. In both cases, Kuwaiti merchant ships delivered U.S.-manufactured M60 tanks and other military supplies to Bahrain. Last week the White House agreed to sign a bill requiring Reagan to report to Congress on the threat to U.S. forces in the gulf...
...cruisers or destroyers equipped with missiles. Radar reports would be provided by Saudi Arabia-based AWACS and Oman-based P-3C Orions, while air cover would primarily be supplied by a Navy carrier stationed outside the gulf. The Navy ships will probably escort small convoys of three or four Kuwaiti tankers through the gulf every ten days or so. The danger spot for U.S. vessels will be the 40- to 60-mile- wide Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has deployed Chinese-made Silkworm missiles...
Reagan defended his Kuwaiti escort service as the best way to protect oil shipments to the West. Citing the gas lines facing motorists in the late- 1970s, he vowed that "our national economy will never again be held captive." But the Administration has other motives. By assisting Iraq's ally, the U.S. hopes to counter the growing Soviet presence in the gulf. The Administration offered to reflag the vessels only after the Soviet Union aided the Kuwaitis by leasing them three tankers last March. While the Administration insists it is still neutral in the 6 1/2-year war between Iran...