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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Reinforcement tour
By Sherine BahaaUS Defence Secretary Cohen this week started a tour of the Gulf, his fourth this year, amid official declarations from Washington that the aim was to visit US servicemen stationed in the Gulf and to attend parts of the 'Bright Star' US-Egyptian military exercises due to start in Egypt this week.
In a statement made upon his arrival in the Gulf state of Bahrain, Cohen said that his visit aimed at "reinforcing the United States position that we are here [in the Gulf] for the long-term and that we value the security relationships we have with individual countries." However this has not stopped speculation that other items may be on the agenda, such as US plans to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the status of US-Iranian relations.
Following his visit to Bahrain, Cohen headed to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman. Cohen, who is presently in Cairo, will also visit Jordan and Israel. His visit comes amid reports in the American press that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has been weakened by the defection of several key intelligence officers and by several rebellions in the south of the country, and is seen as a direct message to neighbouring Iran that the US is closely watching its moves in the oil-rich Gulf region.
According to US officials, another goal of Cohen's current visit is to consult with allies over the situation in Pakistan following last week's military coup in the country. US Central Command in the region, which controls all US forces in the Gulf, also covers Pakistan, which conduced tit-for-tat nuclear tests last year with India.
Cohen's last visit to the Gulf was in March, when he concluded several arms sales with Gulf countries.
The stand-off with Iraq continues to be a major focus of US policy in the region. Sensing the discontent of Arab countries after almost 10 months of intermittent US and British airstrikes in the no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq, which seem to have done nothing to shake the Iraqi regime, the US Administration wants to reinforce its position in the region and with its allies.
This comes at a time when, despite US claims as to the effectiveness of its nearly daily air strikes, neither military action nor diplomatic efforts have succeeded in reviving the UN monitoring mission in Iraq (UNSCOM) after its expulsion last year. Meanwhile, the tremendous costs of ongoing US operations in the Gulf since Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait have been a worrying factor for the Gulf countries and for the US itself. According to Omar El-Hassan, an expert on Gulf affairs, the US war to liberate Kuwait, known as 'Desert Storm', cost $320 billion, a huge sum when compared to the "$8 billion spent in the latest NATO war against Serbia". Hassan said that 90 per cent of these costs were paid by Arab Gulf countries.
Analysts say that the US Administration is failing to convince the American public of the effectiveness of its containment policy towards Iraq. Congress members have recently called for the adoption of new scenarios in dealing with the Iraqi crisis, something which Cohen implicitly recognised when he commented on the present tour that he hoped that opposition within Iraq would bring about a change in the regime. Unrest in the south of the country and other evidence suggested that "Saddam does not have the iron grip on things that he once had," he said. General Anthony Zinni, commander of US forces in the Gulf, was also quoted recently as saying that Washington was looking at ways to spread US military presence in the region such that "we do not put too much of a burden on any one country".
In his stopover visit to Saudi Arabia, Cohen reportedly sought the cooperation of Saudi officials in the US investigation into the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in which 19 Americans were killed. US officials said they suspect Iranian involvement in the incident. Accordingly, US authorities last week handed over Hani Al-Sayegh, a Saudi national allegedly involved in the Khobar bombing, to the Saudi authorities following his extradition to Riyadh after two years in a US prison. The US authorities said they did not have enough evidence to refer Al-Sayegh for trial, but handed him to Saudi Arabia after rejecting his request for political asylum. For their part, Saudi officials said they had evidence against Al-Sayegh, and he is expected to stand trial soon together with his brother who has also been in jail for more than two years.
During his visit Cohen refused to answer questions concerning the possible American response should a link be confirmed between Tehran and the Khobar bombing. "I'll try to find out more about what information the Saudis have as this progresses, but I think it would be inappropriate for me to comment on what action would be appropriate in the event that there is a government-sponsored effort at Khobar," he said.
