Word: naval
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Soviet gross national product (vs. 6% for the U.S.). That comes to roughly $300 billion and places a heavy burden on the country. Observers agree that Gorbachev's restructuring of the civilian economy will not be possible without parallel changes in the military. Inevitably, as U.S. Naval Analyst Norman Polmar points out, "Gorbachev's reforms will directly confront major military interests...
...Washington, any delay in reaching agreement on a cease-fire would postpone a cutback of U.S. naval forces escorting oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. The Reagan Administration would also be forced to defer its efforts to forge a new relationship with Iran after a hiatus of nearly a decade. Last week Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, speaker of Iran's parliament, raised that prospect and a good deal more: the possibility of securing Iran's help in gaining the release of nine American hostages believed held by pro-Iranian factions in Lebanon...
...Reagan Administration to ransom U.S. hostages in Lebanon with arms for Iran. In 1987, largely to prevent the Soviet Union from assuming a greater role in the region, Washington agreed to reflag Kuwait oil vessels with the Stars and Stripes and escort them through gulf waters under U.S. naval protection. That decision sparked some Democratic demands for Reagan to seek congressional approval under the War Powers Act, especially after an Iraqi jet accidentally hit the U.S. frigate Stark with an Exocet missile, killing 37 American sailors. But political heat died down as the U.S. oil convoys continued to function...
...question is whether an end to the gulf war will allow it to reduce its formidable naval buildup in the area. The current U.S. flotilla numbers 26 ships and costs an estimated $140 million a year to maintain. The U.S. has no intention of completely ending its naval presence in the gulf, which goes back nearly 40 years, and even a partial pullback of current forces will probably depend on a reassuring period of quiet. But, said Secretary of State George Shultz, who received news of the Iranian offer while visiting Tokyo, "if the problems go away, the ship presence...
Administration officials quickly claimed that Iran's policy reversal vindicated the decision by the U.S. and other Western naval powers to build up their gulf fleets. Iraq's performance on the ground doubtless had more to do with last week's decision than anything that happened at sea, but the presence of Western navies did provide a show of resolve directed against Iranian aggressiveness. In the end, said Thomas McNaugher, a gulf-state expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, the "interests of Iran and Iraq and everybody else just fell into place." For U.N. mediators in the coming months...