U.S. FINDS IT TOUGH TO KEEP THE GULF AT ARM'S LENGTH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640009-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: June 10, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
I Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/20 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640009-1
NEw YORK TII;IES
10 June 19814
ART I CIE APPZARED
ON PAGE
U.S. Finds It Tough to Keep
the Gulf at Arm's Length
By BEIRNARD GWERTMAN
,
WASHINGTON
THE extension of the Persian Gulf conflict beyond
the boundaries of Iran and Iraq raised serious
problems for the Reagan Administration last
week. Increasing tensions, particularly between
.Iran and Saudi Arabia, seemed to increase the chances
that the United States could be drawn directly, albeit re-
luctantly, into the war. Washington was already deeply
Involved indirectly through its military assistance to
Saudi Arabia and political support for Iraq.
Members of Congress reminded the Administration
that, u supplier of Awacs electronic command planes
and KC-10 aerial tankers to the Saudis. the Administra-
tion already looked like a combatant to the Iranians.
Saudi officials acknowledged that their F-15's would not
have been able to shoot down Iranian planes without in-
formation from the Awacs and aerial refueling.
Both sides were using American-made planes. The
Iranians, who were major purchasers during the Shah's
reign, rely on 20 to 30 old F-4 Phantom fighter-bombers,
with reconnaissance by a dozen remaining advanced F-14
fighters equipped with sophisticated radar. The Saudis,
who have replaced Teheran as the prime purchaser of
American military equipment in the Persian Gulf, have
60 F-15's and larger numbers of older F-5's. Sales of
American arms in the Gulf have been sharply criticized
by Israel and its supporters in Congress who fear their
eventual use against Israeli targets.
"We are going to be at war with Iran, not necessarily
in the Gulf, but at the Olympics and other places like
Uglfrnte igence Agency official said
after the Saudis shot down two Iranian planes. He meant
that the Iranians, having been set back by the Saudi-
American connection, might be planning to retaliate at a
place and time of their choosing. What they lack in fire-
power, they make up in the dedication of followers willing
to carry out terrorist actions such as the suicide bombing
of the Marine barracks near Beirut in October.
"The mistake of Western analysts is that they always
stress the (lack of) military equipment and tools of Iran
and are not informed of the pivotal point of this revolu-
tion, which is the religious zeal of the people," Hojatolis-
lam Hashemi Rafsanjani, the Speaker of the Iranian Par-
liament, was reported to have said last week.
Secretary of State George P. Shultz says the United
? ,
States-woUld be willing to act ageing-
state-directed terrorism. But would
that include direct attacks on Iran?
No such decision has yet been
reached, Administration officials
said.
In view of Iran's difficulties in
keeping its planes in the air and the
newly demonstrated Saudi resolute-
ness, officials in Washington seemed
less fearful than formerly that Iran
might launch attacks against Saudi
oilfields and other hard-to-protect
targets. Such attacks Could lead to a
request for United States planes to en-
ter the fray. But the ability of the
Saudi Air Force to meet the Iranians
and prevail demonstrated that at
least some Saudis were willing to
take risks in their defense, making an
? appeal for American help less likely.
Concern About Stingers
Washington is committed to pre-
serving the stability of the Govern-
ment in Riyadh and the flow of oil
from the Gulf to Western markets.
The stakes' are high enough to make
American entry into the conflict con-
.ceivable. Also, some officials would
not mind the chance to avenge Iran's
treatment of American hostages five
years ago.
But the official line minimizes
the possibility of a combat role.
""Only as a last resort would the
United States consider direct mili-
tary involvement ? and then only in
appropriate circumstances and if we
were asked to do so," Michael H. Ar-
macost, the Under Secretary of State
for Political Affairs, assured a Senate
subcommittee. The senators were
unanimous in expressing concern
about where the 400 Stinger antiair-
craft missiles recently delivered to
the Saudis would end up, and where
the Administration's willingness to
fulfill Saudi requests would take the
United States.
, Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, Re-
publican of New York, was worried
about increasing American involve- Continued
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meat. Several senators said the *at: Powers Act should
be invoked because of the patt played by the Awacs and
aerial tankers in downing the Iranian planes. But the Ad-
ministration, seeking to minimize anxiety in this election
year, said there had been no chance that Americans
would be hit. The Awacs and the refueling planes fly con-
siderable distances from the combat, Mr. Armacost said.
, The war last week followed the pattern of recent inci-
dents. A Turkish tanker was hit by the Iraqis when it ven-
tured into the 50-mile "excluilon zone" they have estab-
lished around Kharg Island, Iran's chief oil export termi-
nal. Iran still had 300,000 to 500,000 troops near the Iraqi
border leading some ? but not all ? analysts to predict
that the long-expected "human wave" attack was immi-
nent. Iraq bombed the Iranian city of Baneh, according to
the Iranians, killing and wounding 600 people. That
touched off Iranian shelling of Iraqi border cities, again
with many casualties reported.
6 On the diplomatic front, special envoys from Algeria
last week appealed unavailingly to Iran to negotiat a set-
tlement. But Teheran was still insisting on the ouster of
Iraq's President Saddam Hussein as a precondition for
negotiations.
"All of the people vtho have a capacity to talk to ei-
ther side just get nowhere with Irrtn in terms of trying to
get it worked out," Mr. Shultz said.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640009-1