DOHA: A few weeks ago, the secretary general of the 22-member Arab League, Amr Moussa, declared that war with Iraq “will open the gates of hell in the Middle East.” But the reality is that some Arab nations are cooperating with preparations for a US military campaign, while others remain on the sidelines.

Interviews with officials and observers from Qatar, Jordan and Saudi Arabia reveal a common basis for Arab calculations. It boils down to a wish to maintain good relations with Washington, even at the expense of criticism and possible unrest within their borders.

President Bush will not be able to recruit Arab states into a coalition against Saddam as his father did in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when Arab leaders supplied the alliance with soldiers, bases and cash. But this time, the Arabs are bending to the will of US superpower dominance.

Jordan’s foreign minister, Marwan Muasher, said in an interview in Washington that despite strong misgivings about war, “Jordan has a strategic, political and economic relationship with the United States, and certainly, Jordan will not jeopardize this relationship.” That is a contrast from a decade ago, when King Hussein came out against international intervention after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

In Qatar, a wealthy sheikdom in the Persian Gulf, the foreign minister, Hamad Bin Jasim al-Thani, recently signalled his country’s priorities: “We always consider requests from our friends. We consider the United States our ally.”

A wild card for all the Arab states is what Israel would do in the event of war. In 1991, the Israelis refrained from retaliating when Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel. But this time, Israeli military and political leaders say they will not be restrained if attacked.

For now, the evidence of key Arab states’ support for the United States is not found so much in public statements as in events on the ground. Arms and equipment are pouring into Kuwait, where the United States maintains an Army headquarters post — a forward base to supply three battalions with tanks, armoured vehicles, assault helicopters and other equipment.

Troops from Britain, the Bush administration’s prime partner in the campaign to oust Saddam, are holding manoeuvres in Oman, where the United States is building a new airfield. Bahrain hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet and its two carrier-led battle groups, and has beefed up security at the base for fear of a backlash against a US assault on Iraq.

Ten days ago, Saudi Arabia reversed itself and said it would permit military installations there to be used in a war endorsed by the United Nations. Jordan has taken no such public stand, but Western diplomats in Amman say there is an “understanding” that Jordan will permit the Americans to use its territory for “search and rescue missions” to support US troops inside Iraq.

Influential Egypt and Syria have chosen evasion as the best course, speaking only of their desire for UN decision-making. Cairo and Damascus have steered the debate away from the question of US plans to overthrow Saddam to the issue of getting arms inspectors into Iraq.

Qatar has established a no-holds-barred alliance with the United States, which maintains the large Al Udeid Air Base in the south of the country. Transport planes, usually escorted by fighter jets, land at the base almost daily.

“We are a small country,” said Abdul Hamid Ansari, head of the Islamic law department at Qatar University. “Hardly anyone questions the benefit of having an American protector.”

In the last conflict with Iraq, Saudi Arabia played a key military role, but today there are alternatives, such as Qatar. Some Saudi academics say that fear of being pushed aside has alarmed the country’s rulers. At the same time, the leadership, aware of a growing anti-American mood at home, appears to be divided about the extent to which the kingdom should assist a US assault against Hussein.

King Fahd and Defence Minister Prince Sultan are eager to go along with the United States, while others led by Crown Prince Abdullah would like to stand up to the White House.—Dawn/The LAT-W.P News Service (c) The Washington Post.