Cohen Orders Warplanes to Gulf

MUNICH, Germany (AP) -- The United States is sending more combat aircraft to the Persian Gulf as Defense Secretary William Cohen begins a mission to convince allies the Clinton administration is planning for a possible major strike against Iraq.

``This is not mild nor meager. This is substantial,'' Cohen said Friday as he flew to a European defense conference in Germany. He will continue on to the Gulf region on Sunday.

He said he expected to order dozens more U.S. warplanes to the Gulf in anticipation of a possible strike.

In addition, Britain announced plans to send eight bombers to Kuwait in the next few days, and Prime Minister Tony Blair said at the White House that the United States could count on British support if action against Iraq proves necessary.

Even as diplomatic efforts continued to pressure Iraq to give international inspectors free access to suspected weapons sites, Cohen said it was important for him to visit face-to-face with allies in the region.

``There have been concerns in the past that when Saddam has taken certain provocative action, we responded in a rather mild fashion,'' Cohen said.

``If a response is to be made, it should be substantial, not small,'' he added. When he is able to speak with allied defense ministers and explain the potential actions Washington could take, ``I think they will look upon them quite favorably,'' the secretary said.

Just before leaving Washington, Cohen signed the deployment order to dispatch a four-ship contingent of 2,000 Marines. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, now in the Mediterranean, is headed by the amphibious assault ship USS Guam, and will provide additional combat punch, or search-and-rescue crews for downed pilots, should such forces be needed.

Two U.S. Marine Corps fighter jets collided over the Gulf during a training flight Friday. The pilots were pulled from the water, but one of them died.

Cohen said he planned to approve a package of strike and support aircraft within the next day or so.

Last week, the U.S. commander in the region, Gen. Anthony Zinni, had put in a request for up to 50 warplanes, a grouping that reportedly included a mix of F-117 stealth fighters, F-15E strike planes, F-16 electronic radar jammers and other support aircraft, senior Pentagon officials said. Officials said the package also might add to the eight B-52 bombers that are now stationed at Diego Garcia, a British island in the Indian Ocean.

Cohen did not detail the list of aircraft, but said Zinni, a four-star Marine general, ``felt that would be a nice complement to the forces that are there.''

``We're going to process that (request) in the next several days,'' Cohen said. Asked whether that meant a U.S. military strike in the Gulf was still some days away, Cohen replied:

``There is no time deadline.''

He described the new aircraft, which would bring the U.S. air fleet in the region to around 450 planes, as ``a reserve, a backup.''

The additional aircraft, which would join the three aircraft carriers now in the Gulf, provide added capability to attack Iraq, should Saudi Arabia decline to allow offensive strikes to be launched from its territory.

Zinni was slated to join Cohen on Sunday, when they begin a four-day sweep through the Persian Gulf region to lay out potential war plans for allies, should the current crisis evolve into armed conflict.

On Sunday, he stops first in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and will meet with some of the nearly 30,000 troops now in the area.

Later in the week, he will visit Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.