Word: gulf
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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LIKE AN unwary tourist in a Middle Eastern bazaar, the Reagan Administration wandered into the Persian Gulf unsure of what it wants and how much it needs...
...White House said the purpose of bombing an Iranian oil rig last week was to punish the Iranians--in "proportion"--for their attacks on Gulf shipping. It didn't work. Instead, the Teheran government responded in kind, attacking Kuwait's major oil facility and mocking American attempts to end the shooting war in the Gulf...
Rather than end the shooting, the U.S.'s large military presence in the Gulf has intensified it. Before the administration decided to send a carrier battle group and assorted escort ships to the region, the tanker war between Iran and Iraq subsided. But our presence in the Persian Gulf put the spotlight on our allies--the Kuwaitis and the Saudis--and the U.S. as new targets in the war. The unnecessary intervention into the area didn't silence the guns so much as give them something...
...goals of protecting our moderate Arab allies and insuring the free flow of oil are entirely legitimate. Unfortunately, the result of America's military presence in the Gulf has been increased warfare there and greater restlessness in Kuwait about her security. The only nation which seems to be gaining from American's protection of shipping is, ironically, Iran, which sends almost all of her oil out of the Gulf by supertanker...
Reagan also cited as reasons for his moves Iran's "refusal to implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 598, its continued aggression against non-belligerent nations of the Persian Gulf and its sponsorship of terrorism there and elsewhere in the world...