United States Foreign Relations Persian Gulf

At a time when network managers are looking at ways to cut the costs of global news-gathering in a soft economy, the responsibility of covering the crisis in the Persian Gulf is wreaking havoc with their news budgets. Until recently, ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN each had been spending about $1 million a week to cover the international crisis that developed when Iraq invaded Kuwait Aug. 2. With the story more quiescent at the moment, the figure has dropped closer to $500,000 a week.

In what appears to be escalating brinkmanship, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been orchestrating a series of provocative acts designed to lure the United States into a military response and focus world debate on U.S. policy toward Iraq, Clinton administration officials say. Over the past six weeks, Baghdad has threatened the Kurdish regions in northern Iraq, called for the overthrow of monarchies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, banned visits by humanitarian aid workers and a new team of U.N.

Iran's move toward a negotiated settlement of its war with Iraq could lead gradually to renewed relations with the United States and a new era for U.S. interests in the strategic Persian Gulf region, analysts and diplomats said Tuesday.

The showdown with Iraq demonstrates that America's support from its Persian Gulf allies has shrunk since the 1991 war and suggests that the United States may need a new battle plan for any renewed face-off with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, analysts say. Although Pentagon officials contend that they had all the military assistance they required in the latest confrontation, neither Saudi Arabia nor Turkey agreed to let warplanes fly from its bases.

Senior U.S. and Soviet officials will meet next month in a neutral European country to confer on problems in the Persian Gulf, prospects for Mideast peace talks and the protracted war in Afghanistan, according to Washington sources. Richard W. Murphy, assistant secretary of state for the Middle East, will ask senior Soviet diplomat Vladimir P. Polyakov for help in steering a resolution through the U.N.

The State Department's top Middle East expert said Thursday that the United States is ready to protect Kuwaiti oil tankers to upset Iranian plans to dominate the Persian Gulf region, preserve free navigation in international waters and avoid what could be a ruinous surge in oil prices. While conceding that the action could result in armed clashes between the United States and Iran, Assistant Secretary of State Richard W.

U.S. envoy Vernon A. Walters arrived in Beijing on Friday to generate Chinese support for a U.N. resolution to end the Iran-Iraq War. Walters, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, met with senior Foreign Ministry officials shortly after his arrival from Tokyo, a U.S. Embassy spokesman said. Walters is expected to meet with Foreign Minister Wu Xueqian today. The embassy spokesman said Walters' mission is to persuade the Chinese to support the U.N.

Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci announced he will soon go to the Persian Gulf to visit American naval forces and consult with allied nations in the region. Carlucci announced the trip during an interview on the the CBS program "Nightwatch." He did not say when the trip will be made, but a Pentagon official said it will take place "early in January." Carlucci, who replaced Caspar W.

Americans are becoming more concerned with the domestic consequences of the Persian Gulf crisis, particularly rising gasoline prices, according to a survey released today that registers public response to the news. In addition, Americans seem to have grasped many of the particulars in the federal budget crisis and their familiarity with the details may have negative political consequences for the Republicans.

The United States, the Soviet Union, China, Britain and France have held a series of unannounced meetings over the last three months seeking to draft a joint peace proposal to end the Iran-Iraq War. All five agree that Iran and Iraq should observe a cease-fire and withdraw to their borders, according to diplomats who have participated in the talks in New York.

Top Pentagon officials Wednesday gave new hints that military action against Iraq is approaching by declaring that the United States has all the Persian Gulf political support and almost all the forces and materiel it needs to wage a prospective air campaign. Closing three days of top-level meetings, Defense Secretary William S.

From the halls of power to the palatial villas where the Kuwaitis hold their late-night gabfests called diwaniyas, the talk of this oil-rich emirate this week is as passionate with fury as with fear. The fear: Kuwait's postwar debt crisis that the government has warned soon could tear into the world's most secure welfare state. The fury: Kuwait's Public Enemy No.

The Bush Administration is having trouble getting its Gulf War allies to agree on how to deal with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, it was reported Sunday. After Pentagon briefings about plans to bomb what is left of Iraq's secret weapons sites, allies voiced reservations or even opposition, the New York Times reported. Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak reportedly dislikes the idea of renewed bombing, and Saudi Arabia and Turkey expressed misgivings. Pentagon sources reportedly said U.S.

The surprise peace proposal unveiled by the Kremlin on Thursday was in fact a joint effort by the Soviet Union and Iran--a diplomatic odd-coupling of two of Washington's oldest foes with potential consequences that stretch well beyond the war in the Persian Gulf. The extraordinary cooperation between Moscow and Tehran was brought on by a shared anxiety over U.S. diplomatic gains and long-term intentions in the Persian Gulf.

President Bush will spend Thanksgiving Day with U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf, the White House announced Friday. Bush, who will leave Washington on Nov. 16 at the start of an eight-day trip to Europe and the Middle East, will also meet in Egypt with President Hosni Mubarak and in Saudi Arabia with King Fahd, the Saudi monarch, and the exiled emir of Kuwait, Sheik Jabbar al Ahmed al Sabah.

At a time when network managers are looking at ways to cut the costs of global news-gathering in a soft economy, the responsibility of covering the crisis in the Persian Gulf is wreaking havoc with their news budgets. Until recently, ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN each had been spending about $1 million a week to cover the international crisis that developed when Iraq invaded Kuwait Aug. 2. With the story more quiescent at the moment, the figure has dropped closer to $500,000 a week.

The showdown with Iraq demonstrates that America's support from its Persian Gulf allies has shrunk since the 1991 war and suggests that the United States may need a new battle plan for any renewed face-off with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, analysts say. Although Pentagon officials contend that they had all the military assistance they required in the latest confrontation, neither Saudi Arabia nor Turkey agreed to let warplanes fly from its bases.

In what appears to be escalating brinkmanship, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been orchestrating a series of provocative acts designed to lure the United States into a military response and focus world debate on U.S. policy toward Iraq, Clinton administration officials say. Over the past six weeks, Baghdad has threatened the Kurdish regions in northern Iraq, called for the overthrow of monarchies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, banned visits by humanitarian aid workers and a new team of U.N.

President Bush's near-total absorption with the Persian Gulf crisis has led to such dramatic missteps and equivocation on how to cut the federal deficit that a second crisis over the budget is mushrooming--sowing confusion within Bush's own party and eroding his authority in Washington. By shaking public confidence in his leadership, it could even cut down his political freedom to deal militarily with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

Americans are becoming more concerned with the domestic consequences of the Persian Gulf crisis, particularly rising gasoline prices, according to a survey released today that registers public response to the news. In addition, Americans seem to have grasped many of the particulars in the federal budget crisis and their familiarity with the details may have negative political consequences for the Republicans.