* Suspicion keeps region from building shield
* Gulf shield hoped to counter potential threat from Iran
* Shield is part of a broader U.S.-backed missile umbrella
By Mahmoud Habboush
ABU DHABI, April 30 (Reuters) – Distrust among Sunni Gulf
Arab states has scuppered the installation of a joint missile
shield which Washington has long urged as the best means of
defence against any strike by Iran.
The oil-exporting states have spent billions on U.S.-built
anti-missile platforms but have fallen short of building a
unified umbrella and an early warning system, despite their
expressed intention to do so.
Analysts say that although they belong to the same political
and military alliance, the six Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC)members remain uneasy about sharing data. Nor can they
decide on the location of a central command and are struggling
to find ways to work together in case of an emergency.
“The question is not only about trust among Gulf states but
also trust in the Americans,” said Mustafa Alani, a Middle East
defence analyst. “The central command is going to be controlled
by a powerful state (Saudi Arabia) and the Americans and the
small states will be sandwiched between the two.”
U.S. officials say the missile shield is part of a global
plan that includes deployment of sea and land-based systems in
Europe, the Middle East and Asia to counter the threat of
ballistic missiles from states like Iran and North Korea.
Iran is at odds with its Gulf Arab neighbours and the West
over its nuclear programme. The United States and its allies say
Iran is seeking nuclear weapons capability under the cover of a
civil programme, which Tehran denies.
The Islamic state has threatened to target U.S. interests in
the Gulf, including military bases, and to block oil tanker
lanes in the Strait of Hormuz if it is attacked.
THORNY ISSUE
U.S. officials have been talking for years to the GCC
members – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates – about building the shield but have done
so with more urgency in recent months.
The site of the central command room is a thorny issue
because the Gulf states have a long history of disaccord. In
2009, the UAE pulled out of a planned GCC monetary union after
Saudi Arabia was voted as the host of a common central bank.
Saudi Arabia also hosts the GCC headquarters.
“We have to have a location,” Lt Gen David Goldfein, the
U.S. Air Force commander for southwest Asia, told a security
conference in Abu Dhabi
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are likely to vie for hosting the
headquarters. Heavyweight Saudi Arabia is also home to the
Peninsula Shield, a GCC force set up in 1986 to defend Gulf
countries against any potential threat.
It has been called upon three times since its foundation –
in the 1990-91 Gulf War, during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in
2003 and in March 2011 when Saudi Arabia and the UAE sent 1,500
soldiers to Bahrain during anti-government Shi’ite protests.
Theodore Karasik, a Dubai-based security analyst, said the
UAE would be the favoured host because “this is where the push
for integration has started from.”
Experts suggest the best short-term solution is for Gulf
states to acquire compatible systems that can be, as one
official said, “plugged” together in case of emergencies.
But U.S. officials say a “plug and play” approach is too
risky, suggesting that it is no alternative to a central command
which allows for a much faster decision-making process.
In this case, commanders would be sitting in one room
controlling the entire network rather than having to coordinate
between six different commands.
Goldfein said that despite each country’s individual defence
plans and bilateral defence arrangements with the United States,
a multilateral security approach was still needed.
WARY OF INFORMATION SHARING
Analysts say the Gulf states are not only wary of sharing
information among themselves but also with the United States
because the oil exporters fear direct U.S. involvement in the
shield could mean that it would link its systems to GCC radars
without sharing back data collected by its own assets.
GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif al-Zayani was among those
at the Abu Dhabi conference who questioned the bloc’s dependence
on foreign allies, mainly the United States.
“What are the defence capabilities that the GCC needs to
become less dependent on their allies?” he asked.
Alani said another obstacle to regional cooperation was
related to finances and sovereignty.
“Many countries either don’t have the money or don’t want to
relinquish national control,” he said.
Smaller countries are concerned that states who would
contribute more to the system such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE
would have more control over it.
Despite a closing of ranks during the 1990-91 crisis over
Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, Gulf states belonging to the
Saudi-dominated GCC have tended to guard their sovereignty
jealously.
Long-running border disputes have slowed security coordination.
“The GCC is overall a fractious organisation. They weren’t
able to agree on a common currency and it’s rare they have real
consensus among themselves,” Robert Jordan, the U.S. ambassador
to Riyadh from 2001-03, told Reuters.
“The Saudis are viewed by the others as the 800lb gorilla in
the region and are perceived to throw their weight about.”
Any pan-Gulf defence shield would have to be supervised by
the Americans, which makes some countries, especially Saudi
Arabia, have seconds thoughts about taking part, a Gulf-based
diplomat said.
“The Americans want the system for their own reasons and
defence assessment, but yet they want the Gulf to pay for it and
host it,” he said.
The missile defence buildup in the Gulf began under former
U.S. President George W. Bush and accelerated under President
Barack Obama, whose administration introduced tougher sanctions
against Iran.
A shared early warning system could be integrated with U.S.
Navy cruisers and destroyers equipped with the Aegis ballistic
missile defense system in offshore waters.
The Gulf states have individually acquired some advanced
defence systems, including the latest versions of the Patriot
Air and Missile Defense System. UAE has spent billions in recent
years to protect its cities and oil installations against
missile attacks.
The latest deal was signed in December with Lockheed Martin
Corp for a $3.6 billion Theater High Altitude Area
Defense (THAAD) – the only system designed to destroy short- and
intermediate-range ballistic missiles both inside and outside
the Earth’s atmosphere.
A company official told Reuters he expected other Gulf
states to buy the THAAD as a result of tensions with Iran.
Besides Lockheed Martin, the biggest U.S. missile defence
contractors include Boeing Co, Raytheon Co and
Northrop Grumman Corp. Even without a central command
system, much of the Gulf would be covered within a few years
with the deployment of new systems in the region.
(Writing by Mahmoud Habboush; Additional reporting by Raissa
Kasolowsky; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
