U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf are moving quickly to meet Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's latest threat to Kuwait.
Already nearly 50,000 U.S. troops have been assigned along with fighter squadrons and a naval armada.
"All in all, this is a formidable military force," said Defense Secretary William Perry Sunday on the eve of a U.N. session on the fate of sanctions against Iraq, which triggered the latest crisis.
The force could go grow to more than 60,000 if a division-sized unit is alerted.
It's the biggest U.S. military buildup since the Persian Gulf war four years ago and its target is the same: Iraqi strongman Saddam, who has moved some of his forces toward the Kuwaiti border.
Reports surfaced Friday that Saddam had moved 14,000 troops toward Kuwait to join the 50,000 already in the region. The Pentagon says the number could climb to 80,000.
By Sunday, national security adviser Tony Lake said nearly one division of Iraqis was within 1.2 miles of the demilitarized zone separating Iraq from Kuwait. The DMZ is nine miles wide - six on the Iraqi side, three on the Kuwaiti side.
But U.N. official Vesselin Kostov, who flew 130 miles along the Iraq-Kuwait border Sunday, said there were no Iraqi troops in the 12 miles of Iraqi territory visible.
Clinton called Saudi King Fahd Sunday. Aides said they had a very positive conversation. Saudi Arabia let U.S. forces launch attacks from Saudi territory in the gulf war.
Iraq seemed to soften its rhetoric when Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Saeed Sahaf said Sunday Iraq wants a dipomatic solution to the crisis, but also to end the embargo.
One potential compromise: Iraq might be willing, for the first time, to recognize Kuwait's sovereignty in exchange for an end to sanctions.
