WASHINGTON -- President Bill Clinton dispatched an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf region and put U.S. Army troops on alert in response to Iraqi troop movements near the Kuwait border, a senior Pentagon official said Friday.


"They should not be misled into thinking they can repeat the mistakes of the past,'' Clinton had earlier warned, saying he would not permit Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to intimidate the United Nations into lifting economic sanctions.


"We are taking the necessary steps as a precaution to deal with this issue,'' Clinton said at a news conference.


He spoke after the State Department verified the buildup which some Pentagon officials suggested might be little more than bluster.


"Confrontational tactics will prove no more successful now than in the past,'' spokesman Michael McCurry said, referring to the 1991 war in which the United States and allied nations forced Iraq to reverse its annexation of Kuwait.


Clinton described the U.S. moves as "appropriate and necessary'' and said he considers the situation to be a serious one.


"Saddam Hussein should be under no illusions. The United States is not otherwise occupied'' with other foreign policy problems, Clinton said.


"It would be a grave mistake for Saddam Hussein to believe that for any reason the United States has weakened its resolve on any issues that involved us in that conflict just a few years ago,'' he said.


But Clinton also warned against overreaction.


He cautioned against reading "more into it than has actually happened.''


Iraq can get the sanctions eased only by complying with UN resolutions, and not by moving troops to the border, Clinton told reporters.


At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary William Perry said the Iraqi troop movements "are not routine and are not typical of what we've seen in the past and therefore cause us concern.''


During several hours Thursday night and this morning, Perry and General John Shalikashvili, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reviewed the array of U.S. military forces in the Gulf region.


The defense secretary said the United States has a "very substantial capability'' in the area and would be ready to make any deployment should it be necessary.


Crude oil prices immediately shot up, hitting an eight-week high, as news spread of the Iraqi troop movements.


One senior Pentagon official said, "Yes, there have been movements. Exactly what they mean, we don't know.'' The official said they could just be "some bluster'' to signal Iraq's unhappiness with United Nations sanctions.


U.S. military forces are standing by in the region, and additional forces could be shifted into the area, should President Clinton decide to take steps in reaction to the Iraqi moves, military officials said.


A second Pentagon official noted that should administration officials care to display some military muscle in response to the Iraqi moves, the aircraft carrier USS George Washington is currently in the Adriatic Sea and could be shifted to the Gulf region.