Escort Service for the Gulf

• Share

The questions would not go away. But every time a Reagan Administration official tried to clarify the U.S.'s role in the Persian Gulf last week, the issue only grew muddier. Finally Ronald Reagan appeared in the White House briefing room Friday afternoon to justify his policy in the wake of Iraq's accidental assault on the U.S.S. Stark. "Mark this point well," he said. "The use of the vital sea-lanes of the Persian Gulf will not be dictated by the Iranians. These lanes will not be allowed to come under the control of the Soviet Union. The Persian Gulf will remain open to navigation by the nations of the world."

Reagan's blunt words came at the end of a week of intense debate about the Administration's plan to provide naval protection to Kuwaiti oil tankers traveling through the gulf. The proposal calls for eleven Kuwaiti vessels to be registered under the U.S. flag and manned by American captains. The Kuwaiti tankers will also receive U.S. naval escorts. The reflagging was initially scheduled to begin this week. But the Administration, caught between lawmakers demanding a greater say in the decision and military strategists trying to define how the Navy should react in case of attack, decided to delay implementation of the plan until mid-June.

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."

Many Congressmen, however, did not want to spend sleepless nights worrying about the U.S. response. "What we're seeing down the road is the U.S. being sucked into this violent and savage war," 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 and the Navy's rules of engagement.

Many Pentagon officials also expressed concern about their mission. "They need to tell us what they want us to do," said one. "Do you want us to shoot down planes that come too close? Do you want us to wait until we're attacked and then turn somebody to ashes?"