Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 28, 1991 TAG: 9102280116
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Contingency plans drawn up within the government included even the prospect of providing aid to Iraq - if Saddam is forced from power.
But final decisions by President Bush rested on consultations with the allies in the 32-nation war coalition, beginning with British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd's call at the White House on Wednesday, and on measuring how much cooperation will come from the Soviet Union.
"Securing the peace in this region, in the aftermath of this conflict, is not going to be any easy job," Secretary of State James Baker said. "It is going to be very difficult."
Baker called in Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador, and met with Hurd. French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas is due here for talks today and German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher on Friday.
Taking form already is a decision to urge the U.N. Security Council to maintain an embargo on arms shipments to Iraq if Saddam Hussein is not driven from power.
"You know what our position is," Baker told reporters. "And that is, as long as that particular government continues in power we want to make certain, at least with respect to arms, that there's some sort of constraints upon rearmament and on the shipment of arms into that country - in particular, weapons of mass destruction."
Hurd went even further. He spoke at the White House of keeping the sanctions in place as a way of forcing Iraq to pay reparations to the victims of the Kuwaiti occupation.
On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, legislators considered changing the tax code to provide tax relief and other benefits to members of the U.S. armed forces.
The four principal U.S. policy objectives, already submitted to Congress by Baker, are:
> New security arrangements in the region.
> Controlling the influx and spread of arms.
Dealing with the Arab-Israeli dispute.
Economic reconstruction and recovery of Iraq and Kuwait, along with other nations that suffered war losses.
Baker told Congress it might be possible for a coalition of countries in the region to take on the economic job, with the United States and other outsiders providing technical advice.
But the three other goals are bound to require an aggressive U.S. role. The biggest question is whether U.S. diplomacy will be supplemented by keeping U.S. ground forces in the region.
There is broad consensus within the alliance, meanwhile, that security arrangements must be undertaken to shield Saudi Arabia and smaller gulf states, such as Kuwait, from Saddam-like aggression.
His blitzkrieg thrust into Kuwait Aug. 2 ignited a seven-month crisis, upset the region's uneasy equilibrium and exposed states such as Saudi Arabia and its smaller gulf partners - as well as Israel - to the frightening prospects of a demonic dictator launching poison gas and indiscriminate missile attacks.
U.S. officials say Bush has not yet decided on the two key points: Whether American, Canadian and British forces will be part of a security shield along with Arab nations and whether the shield will extend northward.
The Soviet Union, having kept its troops out of the war, is unlikely to participate in the security coalition. But Soviet cooperation in controlling the spread of weapons into the volatile region is essential.
Three radical Arab states - Iraq, Syria and Libya - built their arsenals partly on billions of dollars worth of Soviet weapons. Baker, with support from some members of Congress, will try to reverse the proliferation.
Initially, U.S. officials said, the goals are to prevent the introduction of new weapons into the region and to stop the influx of ballistic missiles as well as nuclear and chemical weapons technology.
Addressing the Arab-Israeli dispute is already a high priority in the administration. Baker has signaled his intention to involve the Soviet Union.
by CNB