The Gulf: Hanging Together - or Separately

The global front against Iraq grows fragile as the U.S. forges ahead of the pack

As wondrous as it seemed at the time, the unanimity achieved by the world community three weeks ago in condemning Iraq's invasion of Kuwait was the easy part. The real test is hanging together to defeat Saddam Hussein.

In the first weeks of United Nations-sponsored sanctions, there was heartening evidence of a determined international effort to make the penalties stick. The exceptions proved the rule: Sri Lanka continued to sell tea -- 1.1 million lbs. of it each week -- to Iraq, arguing that its frail economy could not afford to lose the export income. Bulgaria asked the U.N. for an...

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