All of this argues for a permanent demilitarized zone -and a good-size force to patrol it. Instead of being caught in the trap of reacting to Saddam’s repeated acts of bullying his Arab neighbors, the United Nations must more stringently define the size and shape of his playground. The new DMZ must be far enough from the Kuwaiti and Saudi borders that U.N. ground observers and the big satellite’s eye-in-the-sky are able to provide defenders sufficient time to crank up the combat power (tanks, missiles and tank-killing aircraft) to convert any menacing Iraqi armor into a burning junkyard before it can reach the border.
Last year I had a good look at the U.S./Arab tripwire along the KuwaitiIraqi border. I thought the U.S. ground forces, though tactically proficient, were too thin, and their Arab allies needed more modern armor and a lot more drilling. They had come a long way from their disastrous defeat in 1990, but they certainly were not ready for Desert Storm II, nor did I think they would be a capable, self-reliant combat force until well into the 21st century. By that time, they will have trained with all the new armor, tank-killing choppers and fighter aircraft Kuwait has ordered and should be capable of delaying an Iraqi attack until reinforcements from other Arab states -and America- gallop to the rescue.
In the meantime, if we don’t want the world’s largest gas station closed again, the United States should maintain a division-size armor force in Kuwait and one in eastern Saudi Arabia. There will also have to be plenty of firepower on hand. U.S. Army Apache helicopters (carrying laser-guided Hellfire titank missiles, 2.75-inch rockets and bomblets) and Air Force A-10s (big killers during the gulf war with their 30-mm cannons, laserguided bombs and Maverick antitank missiles) can cream any attacking Iraqi armor. Air force fighter-bombers and naval missile ships must also be held on a tight string. Two U.S. Army tank brigades should be physically deployed in the region; a third U. S.-based brigade must be prepared to deploy and pile on pre-positioned gear in Kuwait. One of these Kuwaiti-based tank brigades would belong to the regular U.S. Army; the other two could be rotated among the 16 newly formed National Guard “hot brigades.” Kuwait is a perfect training area, and offers the National Guard units a chance to molt that “weekend warrior” image and become as lean and mean as our fine regular units. In return for protection, Kuwait should pick up the entire defense bill.
Deterrence kept the peace between the end of World War II and the fall of the U.S.S.R. Like the NATO forces that soldiered alongside each other during the cold war, U.S. and Arab troops should train together to maintain the new DMZ, That kind of alliance can outmuscle Saddam -and keep him locked in his cage.
