Kuwait: A Shopping Trip to Moscow

Top officials of oil-rich Kuwait, led by Defense Minister Sheik Salem al-Sabah, flew to Moscow last week on a ten-day arms-buying trip. High on the Kuwaiti shopping list were sophisticated SA-8 surface-to-air missiles, as well as shoulder-fired SA-7's, as substitutes for the Stinger anti-aircraft weapons that the Reagan Administration declined to supply last month on the grounds that Congress would veto the deal. The Soviets seemed happy to oblige: the two parties initialed a weapons-purchase agreement, although no details were announced.

The mission to Moscow served as a sharp reminder that the gulf region is the scene of an...