Gulf States

WASHINGTON -- Five months after forcing Iraq into a bloody retreat from Kuwait, the Bush administration is running into trouble convincing Persian Gulf states to accept an expanded U.S. security umbrella to guard against a similar crisis.The administration is also drawing criticism from some members of Congress and military analysts who say the White House still needs to define U.S. interests and assess the potential threats before deciding what is required for an adequate regionaldefense.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate moved closer yesterday to approving legislation that would make 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico available for oil and natural gas drilling and end a quarter-century ban against tapping the rich energy resources in coastal waters. Facing increasing prices for crude oil and natural gas, which have left Americans paying more for gasoline and for heating and cooling their homes, the bill's proponents say this represents an opportunity for America to increase domestic supplies of energy.

WASHINGTON -- Planning for the Persian Gulf's long-term security, the Bush administration wants to strengthen Saudi Arabia and other states with enough American weaponry either to deter an attack or to stall one long enough for U.S. and allied forces to arrive, officials said yesterday.While the United States has no plans to keep ground troops in the region beyond the current crisis with Iraq, it wants gulf states to have improved capability to receive and operate effectively with U.S. and other allied forces, they said.

In light of recent events, it might be time to change the state motto to "Maryland: Maybe We're Boring. But We're Safer." I say this because look what happened everywhere else the past few days. There were deadly alligator attacks in Florida. Torrential rain and flooding in New England. And a crazed bear chased and mauled a cyclist in a Canadian national park. Meanwhile, what's the worst thing that happened here in Maryland? The pollen count went up? Some daffodils didn't bloom? And when you get into all the bad stuff that happens everywhere else as a matter of routine, Maryland looks even more like Shangri-La.

CAIRO, Egypt - Arab leaders are debating whether to call on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to peacefully step aside but are deeply divided and fear it could establish a precedent that would threaten their authority, say analysts in the region. In the latest sign of Arab ambivalence, six Persian Gulf states allied with the United States declined yesterday to endorse a proposal that called on Hussein to relinquish power as a means of averting war. Three of the countries, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, were on record as supporting the idea, and the others are opponents of Hussein.

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Yielding to strong pressure from the United States, the six oil-rich gulf states announced yesterday that they would send an observer to an Arab-Israeli peace conference and are willing to deal directly with Israel on such regional issues as arms control, water and the environment.The Arabs' commitment, announced by the Gulf Cooperation Council in Luxembourg, was the first significant boost for the Mideast peace process in weeks and marked a reversal of the gulf states' previous refusal to become directly involved in the negotiations at an early stage.

WASHINGTON -- More than two months after the Persian Gulf war ended, a process of retrenchment is under way throughout the Middle East, undermining U.S. hopes of a new power arrangement that would spur progress on regional security, Arab-Israeli peace, arms control and economic cooperation.In that brief period:* The power grouping of the six gulf states plus Egypt and Syria, viewed hopefully by the United States as the new center of gravity in the Arab world, has come apart, a victim of distrust among the Arabs themselves.

MANAMA, Bahrain -- Far from the Clinton administration's closed-door budget strategy sessions, the world's most powerful oil producers are trying to close ranks and map a response that could send the price of U.S. gasoline soaring several years from now.The producers are upset over the potential impact of President Clinton's proposed energy tax if it reduces demand for their only marketable commodity -- crude oil."If this tax is imposed," the Persian Gulf states "will curb oil exports and development of production facilities," Youssef Shirawi, Bahrain's minister of development and industry, declared after he and his counterparts first met on the issue last month in Saudi Arabia.

Washington. The Persian Gulf war vanquished the biggest and most menacing threat to the oil-rich Arab states and Israel. But it's a giant leap from victory over Iraq to securing the stable Middle East that President Bush and his allies hope for.The war's end opened up a caldron of discontent with Saddam Hussein's regime in southern Iraq. While the government moved to suppress the revolt, a serious question remains whether Iraq's shattered military can keep the nation's centrifugal ethnic and religious forces in check.

ABU DIS, Israeli-Occupied West Bank -- When Mohammed Nusseibeh shows off the College of Science and Technology, everything that used to be a source of pride is now a cause for embarrassment. Mr. Nusseibeh, the chancellor, knows this is a Palestinian campus built by Kuwait.Kuwaiti money paid for the classrooms, equipped the laboratories, bought the library books and furnished the offices, including Mr. Nusseibeh's. Then came Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and a bitter parting of ways between Palestinians and the states of the Persian Gulf.

Oil rigs washing up on beaches. Casinos ripped from their moorings. Refineries closed. Shipping facilities damaged or destroyed. Small businesses flooded and then looted. Hurricane Katrina - which wrought damage that appears to be worse than anything the nation has seen before - hit the Gulf Coast in such critical spots that it's not simply homes that must be rebuilt, but the region's economy. Including stemming the floods, cleaning debris, and restoring power and telecommunications, much must be done before businesses can even think about rebuilding, let alone reopening.

WASHINGTON - The National Guard is doubling to 20,000 the number of soldiers providing security and humanitarian relief to storm-ravaged Gulf states by rushing in more troops from across the country, including Maryland, Pentagon officials said yesterday. Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said units are being dispatched from as far away as Washington state, Utah and Michigan to deal with the largest domestic disaster in memory. "If they need more, we'll send more," said Blum.

WASHINGTON - Among prisoners held by the United States in Iraq, more than 200 are Syrians, Jordanians, Lebanese and other foreigners who could become subject to military tribunals, U.S. military officials said yesterday. The foreigners have been accused of unlawfully battling U.S. forces in Iraq, sometimes in close league with the paramilitary forces known as fedayeen. They are among several hundred prisoners in Iraq now categorized by the United States as unlawful combatants rather than prisoners of war, the officials said.

CAIRO, Egypt - Arab leaders are debating whether to call on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to peacefully step aside but are deeply divided and fear it could establish a precedent that would threaten their authority, say analysts in the region. In the latest sign of Arab ambivalence, six Persian Gulf states allied with the United States declined yesterday to endorse a proposal that called on Hussein to relinquish power as a means of averting war. Three of the countries, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, were on record as supporting the idea, and the others are opponents of Hussein.

In his opening salvo as the Republican vice presidential nominee, Dick Cheney chided the Clinton-Gore team for "squandering" its time in power. No one could say the same of Cheney in recent years. The former defense secretary traded a position with a Washington think tank five years ago for a corporate office in Dallas and capitalized on his international and government connections to enrich the worldwide oil services company he led - and himself. As chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Halliburton Co., Cheney received $10.7 million in salary, cash bonuses and other compensation, according to company documents.

MUSCAT, Oman - A day after the Pentagon announced it would not seek permission from Saudi Arabia to launch airstrikes from Saudi territory, the United States disclosed new plans yesterday to build up its forces in the Persian Gulf by sending 2,500 to 3,000 more soldiers to Kuwait.A senior military official traveling in the region with Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen said the Pentagon was planning to have the soldiers join 1,500 Army troops already in Kuwait, where stocks of armored vehicles and weapons were left in place after the Persian Gulf war ended in 1991.

AMMAN, Jordan -- U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright switched her travel plans yesterday to press a major diplomatic push in the Persian Gulf states, as Iraq stiffened its aggressive stance in its showdown with the United States.Albright, on a round-the-world trip, announced she would make a lightning swing today through the four Persian Gulf states most vulnerable to attack from Iraq.The Iraqi government repeated yesterday its threats to fire on U-2 surveillance flights, the next expected to take place today, and a newspaper owned by Saddam Hussein's son called for Arab commando assaults on U.S. and British embassies and warships.

BAQAA REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan -- For a few weeks of summer, Mohammed Shehad finally had the good luck and success for which his parents had sacrificed so much. After a long search, he found a well-paying government job as an engineer.Then came the bad luck, as it has for thousands of other Palestinians. His new job was in Kuwait, and his employer was the government overthrown by Iraq's invading soldiers.Mr. Shehad has become part of a steady stream of stunned and embittered Palestinians who are heading back to the families they supported with earnings from jobs in the oil-rich states of the Persian Gulf.

AMMAN, Jordan -- U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright switched her travel plans yesterday to press a major diplomatic push in the Persian Gulf states, as Iraq stiffened its aggressive stance in its showdown with the United States.Albright, on a round-the-world trip, announced she would make a lightning swing today through the four Persian Gulf states most vulnerable to attack from Iraq.The Iraqi government repeated yesterday its threats to fire on U-2 surveillance flights, the next expected to take place today, and a newspaper owned by Saddam Hussein's son called for Arab commando assaults on U.S. and British embassies and warships.

PARIS -- The passage of power in Saudi Arabia, from King Fahd to Crown Prince Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz comes soon after the November car-bomb attack in Riyadh that killed five American government advisers.The events, unrelated, are nonetheless significant to the future of an American Middle Eastern commitment that still lacks the analysis it deserves.Five decades ago both the oil industry and the State Department were hostile to America's recognition of the newly proclaimed state of Israel.