U.S. military planners ruled outIran's Silkworm missiles as a target in the retaliatory attack
mounted on Monday for fear of being drawn more deeply into the
Iran-Iraq war, defense and Middle East experts said.
    U.S. naval forces destroyed an offshore oil platform and
raided another in what the administration called a "measured and
appropriate response" to an Iranian Silkworm missile attack last
Friday on a U.S.-flagged tanker in Kuwaiti waters.
    Private analysts generally agreed that going after the rig
rather than an onshore economic or military target such as
Silkworm launch sites reflected a careful bid by Washington to
limit the political, military and diplomatic fallout both at
home and in the Gulf.
    "It simply demonstrated the United States will take military
action when they (Iran) take military action," Norman Polmar, a
defense analyst and author, said.
    He said hitting the platforms had spared Iran the
embarrassment of casualties on its own soil, possibly avoiding
an escalating spiral of attack and counterattack.
    In addition, it minimized the risk to U.S. forces and the
potential embarrassment of any losses, including aircraft that
could have been shot down had they taken part in an attack.
    Anthony Cordesman, author of a new book on the Iran-Iraq
war, said the United States apparently chose a limited target
to keep alive the possibility that U.N. Secretary General
Javier Perez de Cuellar might still persuade Iran to accept a
Security Council call for a ceasefire.
    "We want the U.N. peace initiative to work if there's any
chance at all," he said, adding that the action made it clear
tougher steps would follow if Iran to attack Gulf shipping.

   In targeting an oil rig -- albeit one said by the Pentagon
to have been turned into a military command post -- Washington
also sent a message that it might be willing to attack Iran's
economic lifeline. Pentagon officials said the platform had
been used as a base for Iranian raids against shipping in the
lower Gulf.
    "We have chosen a military target, but we also have shown
Iran that we are willing to interfere with its oil-exporting
capabilities," Cordesman said.
    He predicted the United States would respond to any future
major Iranian challenges by hitting Iran's naval base at Bandar
Abbas on the Straits of Hormuz, followed by mining the
approaches to Iran's oil export terminal on Kharg Island.
    Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger said on Monday the
United States did not seek further confrontation with Iran, "but
we will be prepared to meet any escalation of military action
by Iran with stronger countermeasures." 
 Reuter
