Word: arabia
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Many on Capitol Hill have complained about the apparent unwillingness of the Arab states to aid the U.S. militarily. Though Weinberger refused to divulge the details, he vigorously contended, "We are getting significant and welcome help from a lot of other countries." Weinberger has a point. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, for example, rushed search and rescue ships to the stricken U.S.S. Stark after an Iraqi fighter plane accidentally attacked the frigate last May, killing 37 men. Several Arab ports in the gulf, including Bahrain and Dubai, permit U.S. Navy ships to make rest-and-relaxation stops; sailors, however, must wear...
Last week Iraqi oil flowed into new lines through Turkey to the Mediterranean port of Iskenderun, boosting export capacity from 1 million bbl. of oil a day to 1.5 million bbl. In April, Saudi Arabia increased the volume of Petroline, its four-year-old link between Saudi and Iraqi oil fields and the Red Sea port of Yanbu, from 1.8 million bbl. to 3.2 million bbl. In addition, plans are under way for a $2 billion Iraqi line, called IPSA-2, capable of carrying 1.6 million bbl. to Yanbu...
...lines as too costly to fully replace tankers, which are the cheapest way to move gulf oil despite the high insurance rates that must be paid by the ships' owners. Moreover, the pipes can suddenly be shut down by war, especially if the routes cross national borders. Saudi Arabia's route through Lebanon has been closed since 1983, and Baghdad's pipe to the Syrian coast was shut down soon after the Iran-Iraq conflict began in 1980. In addition, pipelines remain vulnerable to sabotage and attack by planes or missiles...
These disadvantages are offset, however, by the devastation of the tanker war. "In a normal world, pipelines make no sense at all," says James Akins, former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. "But who would be so foolish as to say that anything is normal these days in the gulf?" Thomas McNaugher, a senior analyst with the Massachusetts-based Cambridge Energy Research Associates, agrees. Says he: "Pipelines are no final answer for anyone. Yet it makes sense to diversify, to provide an alternative to being held at gunpoint...
...knocked out of the war by now. Soon after the fighting broke out, the country's ports were closed and its credit dwindled. Baghdad adopted a strategy of expanding its lines while at the same time attacking tankers carrying Iranian oil. By increasing its exports through Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Iraq earned enough foreign exchange to buy much needed arms...