ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:96071802.POL
DATE:07/18/96
TITLE:18-07-96 U.S. TAKING INCREASED SECURITY PRECAUTIONS AGAINST TERRORISM
TEXT:
(Perry says Europe, Middle East are focus of effort) (1320)
By Jacquelyn S. Porth
USIA Security Affairs Writer
Washington -- Defense Secretary Perry told members of Congress this
week that the United States will "prepare broadly" against "a very
intense threat" from "weapons of mass destruction in the hands of
terrorists" in countries including Bosnia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
The secretary notified his regional commanders-in-chiefs July 17 that
the recent bombing at a military housing complex in Dhahran, Saudi
Arabia, has shown that "terrorists have reached a new level of
organization, sophistication, and violence." The evolution of
terrorists' tactics and techniques, he said, is "changing and
challenging the effectiveness of our current anti-terrorist measures."
Perry says the U.S. military must increase its "vigilance against
terrorism" and not underestimate either terrorists' intent or
capability. Since terrorist organizations seek to exploit the weakest
link in the chain of defenses, the secretary said, the United States
must find and strengthen "weak spots."
"Passive defenses" such as fences and concrete barriers are not
sufficient, the secretary stressed. He urged commanders to increase
"active defenses" and to put their best military minds "on the task of
force protection" because "somewhere terrorists are planning" cowardly
attacks against U.S. military personnel which are even larger than the
one that killed 19 Americans at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia on June
25.
Perry told commanders in Europe, the Middle East, Panama and South
Korea to consider relocating or consolidating military personnel "at
more easily secured locations and especially at moving them, wherever
possible, out of urban locations" because it is easier to protect them
once they are removed from downtown city areas. He also urged them to
work "more effectively with host nations on force protection
measures."
The secretary called on his subordinates to be resilient in the
dedicated effort "to defeat terrorism." This effort, he said, should
involve "better focusing intelligence to deal with the terrorist
threat" because intelligence allows appropriate protective action when
necessary and produces the evidence to take retaliatory actions under
a worst-case scenario.
Perry met with key leaders in the House of Representatives July 18,
following an earlier session with Senate leaders, to share preliminary
details of a new Pentagon-sponsored Force Protection Initiative
designed to make U.S. military forces serving in the Middle East and
Europe less vulnerable to chemical or biological weapons, mortar
attack, and suicide bombers. He told the members of Congress, "We have
to make some fundamental ... drastic changes in the way we configure
and deploy forces."
Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon told reporters July 18 that there has
been a significant increase in the terrorist threat in Saudi Arabia,
Bosnia and other places. With respect to the status of the
investigation into the Dhahran bombing at Khobar Towers last month, he
said, "We're pursuing leads in several different areas."
Meanwhile, a senior defense official told reporters July 17 that it is
important for the U.S. to react to the increasing threat of terrorism,
but not to be "paralyzed" by it. In Saudi Arabia, for example, he
said, there are daily reports of pending terrorist attacks, but they
are "mostly false-positives. They are either misinformation,
disinformation or they report things which were true when reported,
but for one reason or another, the attack doesn't materialize." It is
important for terrorists to realize, he added, that in the wake of
these threats the U.S. will not put its troops in bunkers
around-the-clock or send them home.
"Terrorism is real and (a) growing threat to our national interests,
both in Saudi Arabia and the region, and worldwide," he stressed, and
analysts are seeing "a level of fanaticism" and willingness by the
terrorists to take risks "that we did not see in the past." Countering
this requires a national commitment as well as "cooperation" with and
"commitment" by the Saudis, the official continued, and "other host
nations and...to some degree or another, coalition partners and
allies."
The real problem for U.S. commanders is finding a way to deal with
"force protection in the very tough environment that modern day
terrorism presents," the official pointed out. "Unfortunately, no
matter what we do...there will be further attempts," he said, "and, in
all probability, some of those attempts will succeed," although the
impact may be reduced by the precautionary measures which are being
taken.
Having watched the resources devoted to the problem over the decades
by both Israel and the United Kingdom, U.S. analysts agree that
anti-terrorism protection simply cannot be perfect. Still, he
conceded, while taking appropriate measures is required, "force
protection can never be an absolute. We have to balance it with
mission accomplishment."
U.S. forces at a number of bases in Saudi Arabia are on "critical
alert" with regard to another possible terrorist attack. The first
bombing occurred in November in the capital before the second last
month in Dhahran. The U.S. does not want to leave the impression, the
official stressed, that one more attack or a few more, might drive the
U.S. out of the region.
The official said Perry encountered "broad sympathy" during his
briefings on Capitol Hill for the Clinton administration's position on
the need to remain in place in Saudi Arabia. Congressional leaders
also endorsed the notion that the U.S. is there not only to defend
Saudi Arabia, but also to protect "vital" U.S. national interests.
American interests include access to oil which is critical for the
world's economy. The U.S. does not want to see Persian Gulf oil "fall
under the control of a hostile state," the official said, noting that
two of the three major powers in the region, Iran and Iraq, "are
unremittingly hostile towards the United States and towards
international stability."
A U.S. presence in the Gulf is also "critical to stability," he said,
and necessary for "the prospect of moving forward with the Middle East
peace process."
Additionally, the U.S. has "an interest in freedom of navigation and
commercial access," the official added.
There are currently some 5,000 to 6,000 Americans in Saudi Arabia.
They are not there merely to show the American flag and maintain a
strategic presence, he said, adding that a forward U.S. presence "is
critical to our military strategy for defending the Gulf." Their tasks
include patrolling the no-fly zone over southern Iraq, manning Patriot
missile batteries, and training Saudi National Guard units.
While the U.S. has concluded access agreements for current and
contingency operations with six Gulf Cooperation Council members, the
official noted that Saudi Arabia is key to the process because as the
largest country in the region, it is the one "with the willingness and
the infrastructure and the financial capability to allow U.S. forces
to be there. And it also provides a critical political, and, in some
cases, a financial key to our presence in other countries." Leaving
Saudi Arabia "is simply not an option," he added.
Perry said July 17 that U.S. military commanders, at the suggestion of
their host, were considering a plan to move 3,000 to 4,000 service
personnel from the Dhahran area to the al-Kharj Air Base which is 130
kilometers southeast of Riyadh. Doing so, the briefing official said,
will reduce the vulnerability of the military force while still
maintaining "mission capability."
A detailed plan is being prepared, and once approved, consultation
with Congress and the Saudis will still be required. "We're preparing
to move forward as fast as we can," according to Pentagon spokesman
Bacon. A decision is expected to be made in the next two weeks, he
said July 18; after that it will take only a matter of days to
redeploy the forces.
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