Defense Secretary William Perry met with Kuwaiti leaders Monday to co-or-di-nate plans for bolstering the emirate's security forces in the face of a renewed military buildup by Iraq.
Directly upon arrival from Saudi Arabia, Perry went into a two-hour meeting and lunch with the emir, Sheik Jabir al-Almad al-Sabah, and Crown Prince Sheik Abdullah al-Sabah, the nation's top rulers.The U.S. defense secretary was scheduled to fly to Al-Jaber Air Base 20 miles northwest of the city to meet with U.S. crews from the two A-10 Thunderbolt squadrons deployed to the tiny emirate last year. Perry ordered 24 of the "tank-killer" aircraft - made famous in the 1991 Persian Gulf war - sent to Kuwait in the wake of Iraq's threatening movement of armored divisions southward in October.
Before leaving Riyadh, Perry said he'd gotten guarantees from Saudi Arabia for U.S. military access to its ports and airfields after he displayed spy photo evidence of Iraq's new military infrastructure.
"We agreed that continued United States access to Saudi bases and ports is the key to quick, forceful response to aggression," Perry said before departing the Saudi capital for Kuwait.
Perry said that Iraq has been using what limited revenues it has gleaned from oil sales to rebuild the military infrastructure that had been destroyed during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, including rebuilding artillery, engine and chemical weapons plants.
"They are using a relatively small amount of resources . . . to rebuild their military and to build palaces (for Saddam Hussein), and their people are suffering because of that," Perry said.
The defense secretary said he carried with him a package of U.S. intelligence photos showing the buildup, and he intended to show them to other leaders of gulf states during his six-day tour.