The Gulf Arrows To Our Chests

As Iran blusters, the Arabs discuss defense

December was the cruelest month in the Persian Gulf. It brought attacks by Iran and Iraq on at least 29 commercial ships, the highest recorded monthly number since the tanker war began. At the gulf's northern end, the seven-year- old war between the two Islamic rivals threatened to take a menacing turn as Tehran boasted of its ability to produce chemical weapons and a long-range missile. Vowed Iranian Prime Minister Mir Hussein Mousavi: "The government is committed to allocating its full potential to the war effort."

Those words hardly comforted the leaders of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which met last...

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