Defense Secretary William Perry wrapped up a six-day visit to Persian Gulf states Thursday after gaining agreement for the positioning of enough weapons and other equipment to support a U.S. armored division.
Perry, after a morning of meetings at the Al-Rayyan Palace, said in a statement that he was pleased with the results of his talks in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar."The countries I visited are willing to work with the United States as we follow a policy . . . to prevent aggression by Iraq and Iran," said Perry. "The personal relationships I have established with area leaders will lead to extended access to bases and ports and more effective crises response."
A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Perry's meetings with Qatar's emir, Shiek Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani, resulted in an agreement to speed up plans to store enough supplies to support about 5,000 troops in battle.
"They agreed to that totally," the senior Pentagon official said. In fact, the Qatar leaders were so sympathetic to the U.S. request that they volunteered the possibility of accepting placement of supplies for a second brigade.
One brigade's supplies are already in Kuwait and the United States wants to put a total of three brigades in the gulf region in order to field an entire armored division of about 15,000 to 17,000 soldiers should a new land war erupt.
Perry, who has stressed the threat posed by Iran's arms build-up near the mouth of the Persian Gulf in recent days, said he wanted to emphasize that the U.S. presence in the gulf region was a defensive one.