The United States fire brigade

Press, 28 February 1981, Page 14

The United States fire brigade

With an eye on the implications of the Iran-Iraq war and other events in the Middle East last year, the UnitedStates established a Rapid Deployment Force. The United States did not recruit extra forces; it designated four existing Army and Marine divisions, as well as Air Force, Navy, and support units for quick use in the area of the Gulf. To concentrate such a force would mean depleting forces elsewhere; From the beginning, the plan meant that gaps left by the special group would have to be filled by other forces. Foreign policy experts from four North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries proposed that Western Europe should provide troops and equipment to back up the American force. A day or so before the experts’ report was released, a military meeting of Western allies was much less sure that Western Europe would, in fact, increase defence spending to match American* increases and plans. It seems almost certain that, before President Reagan deals with any military or political crisis with the Soviet Union, he is going to have to deal with a political crisis over American relations with Europe.

The Rapid Deployment Force was first suggested by President Carter after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The failure to rescue the hostages held in Iran and the war between Iran and Iraq appeared to give further point to the establishment of a Rapid Deployment Force. Theoretically it was intended to have the role of a “fire brigade” in any part of the world that is important to American or to the West’s interests; in practice it was intended for use in the Gulf area to stop such an occurrence as a Soviet invasion of Iran. The sum of $25 billion, to be spent over five years, was provided and seven chartered cargo ships and tankers were stationed at the Indian Ocean island of Diego

Garcia. One hundred and thirty jet cargo planes are to be built for the force. The intention is to be able to get American troops and weapons to the Gulf in a very short time indeed. A few days warning would probably be enough. Surveillance satellites should be able to give such notice of military movements that would set off an alert.

The establishment of a Rapid Deployment Force has been criticised on several grounds. Some Europeans have argued that the real threat to oil supplies is not from the Soviet Union but from domestic upheavals, such as occurred in Iran. Moreover,; the United States could hot expect to be invited to intervene in the area and would thus have to intervene uninvited; this would invite the risk of doing more harm than good. A Soviet invasion was left as the only occasion for direct intervention and, in such circumstances, the world might be on the brink of a nuclear war almost immediately. Against this it might be argued that if American troops are put quickly in position, the Soviet Union might be deterred from any contemplated action. It must be remembered, however, that Richard Nixon, who managed his relations with the Soviet Union and China better than he managed them with the American public, always carefully avoided having American and Soviet troops facing each other. He was a generally sounder judge of foreign policy than either President Carter or President Reagan. The Rapid Deployment Force, in President Reagan’s hands, might seem to lend itself to such policies as “sending in the Marines,” which might have a nostalgic appeal to President Reagan! For more than reasons of economy, and in spite of all their worries about the Soviet Union, the European allies are likely to be reluctant to become too deeply committed to the Rapid Deployment Force.