CLINTON DEFENDS MISSILE STRIKES : PRESIDENT SAYS U.S. INTEREST IN GULF IS `CLEAR'.

Byline: John Aloysius Farrell The Boston Globe

President Clinton said Saturday that he ordered the recent U.S. military moves against Iraq to try to strap Saddam Hussein into a ``strategic straitjacket'' and thus preserve American interests in the oil-rich Persian Gulf.

Clinton used his weekly radio address to defend the recent U.S. missile strikes against Iraq and the ongoing U.S. military buildup in the region from attacks by Republicans and other critics who have labeled administration policy as vague and erratic.

There were no reports of hostile action by either Iraq or allied forces Saturday, but the United States continued to build up its forces in the region and Clinton has vowed to respond to recent Iraqi missile attacks on American warplanes.

Iraq promised Friday that it would stop firing surface-to-air missiles at U.S. and allied jets patrolling the northern and southern ``no-fly'' zones in which Iraqi aircraft are banned. U.S. officials have dismissed the Iraqi announcement as a false promise, and on Friday Clinton ordered 5,000 U.S. troops to the region to participate in ongoing joint exercises in Kuwait.

Republicans found flaws in Clinton's words and actions. ``In the last 15 days, unfortunately, because of the lack of a clear policy objective, we have not seen any success on any real front, while Saddam Hussein has,'' said Alixe Glen, a spokeswoman for the Dole-Kemp campaign.

``Saddam Hussein has fractured the alliance the United States had developed during Desert Storm. He's driven a wedge between the United States and its European allies. It's time for Mr. Clinton to review what's going on, to reach out to Congress . . . and explain to the American people just what American policy goals are and how he hopes to accomplish them,'' said Glen, a Bush administration veteran who serves the campaign as press secretary for vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp.

Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia, a leading Democratic supporter of the president, echoed the Republican criticism. ``We have to adopt and develop a long-term policy toward Iraq and Iran and the region rather than simply being in a reactive mode on everything he does,'' Nunn said on the CNN talk show ``Evans and Novak.''

``I would share the question about what the ground troops are going to be doing,'' Nunn said. ``We are trying to protect the oil supplies. We have friends like Saudi Arabia and Turkey in that region. But in protecting those friends in the gulf, the more troops we have, the higher level of American presence, the more problems we're going to have . . . with fundamentalist elements.''

The president's radio address came as the United States stepped up its diplomatic initiatives against Iraq. Clinton spoke by telephone Saturday with Saudi Arabia's King Fahd. Defense Secretary William J. Perry left for consultations in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Turkey.

Perry was expected to seek support for possible future attacks on Saddam Hussein. Clinton ordered F-117 Stealth fighter-bombers and 5,000 Army troops to Kuwait Friday and sent a second U.S. aircraft carrier - the Enterprise - into the region. At Fort Hood, Texas, the U.S. 1st Cavalry troops packed their bags in preparation for being airlifted, raising the planned total of U.S. troops in the region to about 32,000.

The U.S. missile strikes and buildup took place in the wake of Saddam Hussein's successful move against Kurdish opponents in northern Iraq early this month. Clinton responded by attacking Iraqi air defense targets and extending the no-fly zone in southern Iraq - effectually ceding Saddam Hussein's victory in the north.

Clinton said Saturday that U.S. strategic interests do not primarily lie with the Kurds, but with Saddam Hussein's southern neighbors in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

``When Saddam sent his troops into the Kurdish city of Irbil in northern Iraq two weeks ago we responded strongly, immediately and stSrategically,'' Clinton said. ``If we had failed to answer Saddam's provocation, he would have been emboldened to act even more recklessly and in a manner more dangerous to our interests. That is why we did respond, and why we did so in a way that made our interests more secure. We acted in southern Iraq, where our interests are the most vital.

``I ordered the attacks in order to extend the no-fly zone in Iraq, the airspace through which Iraq's military is not allowed to fly. Now we control the skies over Iraq from the border of Kuwait to the southern suburbs of Baghdad,'' Clinton said. ``This action tightened the strategic straitjacket on Saddam, making it harder for him to threaten Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and easier for U.S. to stop him if he does. In so doing, we advanced America's fundamental interests in the region.''

Kuwait revived its call Saturday for the ouster of Saddam Hussein. ``We want to see an end to this regime sooner rather than later,'' said the information minister, Sheik Saud Nasser Sabah.

Clinton said that U.S. interests in the gulf are ``constant and clear'' and include the defense of U.S. allies, the fight against international terrorism, the free flow of oil and hopes for a comprehensive Middle East peace accord.

``For the past five years, Saddam Hussein has repeatedly threatened the stability of the Persian Gulf and our allies, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait,'' Clinton said.

Responding in kind to his GOP critics, Clinton took a thinly veiled slap at Bob Dole. The president accused his Republican opponent of playing ``partisan politics with America's security'' in the debate over a worldwide chemical weapons treaty.

``The fact that our troops are facing off against Saddam Hussein, who wants to amass stockpiles of chemical weapons and still seeks to develop them, should have underscored the importance of this treaty,'' Clinton said. ``But the treaty seems to have gotten caught up in election-year politicking.''

In a letter to his former Senate colleagues lSast week, Dole persuaded Republican senators to block ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which had been negotiated by the administration of former President Bush and endorsed by Clinton.

``We cannot afford to play partisan politics with America's security. Our troops . . . deserve better than that,'' Clinton said.Official Tehran radio strongly criticized Clinton on Saturday, accusing him of planning more military strikes against Iraq to boost his political campaign.