WHY THE BIG U.S. BUILDUP IN THE GULF IS SO RISKY

I don't have any misgivings," Ted Fennig of Greendale, Wisconsin, said last week. Fennig's son, Technical Sergeant Patrick P. Fennig, 34, an F-15 crew chief, was killed in the explosion at the Khobar Towers compound. "None of us," Fennig said, "have a problem with the mission." The families of other service members who died echoed that sentiment, and U.S. officials insisted that the act of terror would not deter the U.S. from fulfilling its mission in Saudi Arabia and around the Persian Gulf. In the aftermath of last week's deaths, however, it is appropriate to ask what exactly that mission is...

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