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General defends safeguards at Saudi complex

But bigger bombs call for bigger measures

June 27, 1996
Web posted at: 2:00 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT)

From Correspondent Jamie McIntyre

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As the bodies of 19 U.S. servicemen killed in an explosion in Saudi Arabia came home in flag-draped coffins Thursday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said "all reasonable things" had been done to protect them.

But, "that doesn't mean we don't have to go back to the drawing board," to find additional security measures, Gen. John Shalikashvili told CNN Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

Shalikashvili Mcintyre

Although it's "too early to tell if something additional could have been done" to safeguard the soldiers, Shalikashvili said the United States will look for ways to protect its bases from bigger bombs.

"What we had not seen in the past is a terrorist bomb of this devastating size," Shalikashvili said. However, he added the United States can not be assured of finding foolproof solutions.

Authorities estimate that 5,000 pounds of explosives were used in Tuesday's bombing at the U.S. military complex in Al Khobar, a town near Dhahran. About 4,000 pounds of explosives were used in the deadly Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995.

"Everything that we could reasonably think of doing at that time was done," the general said of this week's attack. (196K AIFF or WAV sound)

He pointed out that security was stepped up after a U.S.-run Saudi National Guard training center in Riyadh was bombed last November, killing five Americans and two Indians. (196K AIFF or WAV sound)

No change in troop strength

Shalikashvili said he did not expect the United States to withdraw troops from Saudi Arabia because the nation "has an interest in keeping stability in the region. And most of all, we have an interest in signaling to (Iraqi leader) Saddam Hussein that we will not stand idly by should he once again turn his vengeance against his neighbors."

Since 1990, when allied forces were allowed into Saudi Arabia to protect the oil wells and drive Iraq out of Kuwait, Western military forces have become, next to business, the most visible sign of foreign influence in the deeply conservative kingdom.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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