Policy At Sea Tacking toward the gulf

The signals emanating from Washington last week over the issue of U.S. involvement in the Persian Gulf were decidedly mixed. Press reports described a U.S. contingency plan to launch a pre-emptive strike against the Chinese- built Silkworm missiles that Iran is installing along the Strait of Hormuz. Drawing up a wide range of such plans is routine procedure. Testifying to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Admiral William Crowe, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said nothing directly about the Silkworms. But speaking of the Reagan Administration's plan to have U.S. warships escort Kuwaiti tankers through the gulf, he warned, "There...