Kuwait City ? As U.S. forces move toward the Persian Gulf, Iraq’s neighbors are hurriedly preparing for war by bolstering stocks of oil and food, setting up refugee camps, conducting emergency drills and stepping up security at key installations.

While their leaders continue to express hope for peace, the nations surrounding Iraq seem increasingly resigned to the likelihood that war is coming, a war that could strain their resources with fleeing Iraqis, tax their economies and threaten them with casualties from missile attacks.

The region’s governments have been working with U.S. military officers and international humanitarian groups to cope with the threat of spillover. During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, coalition forces stopped after meeting their goal of driving the Iraqi army out of Kuwait. But a U.S. offensive this time would be aimed at destroying the Iraqi government, which neighboring countries fear could fracture the country along tribal, ethnic or religious lines and spread disorder elsewhere in the region.

For all the risk of instability, emergency planning proceeded only sporadically until recently, but it has stepped up in recent weeks as Washington has appeared more determined to launch military action. With the Bush administration now ordering a doubling of the 60,000 U.S. troops already in the region, strategists here anticipate an attack as early as February and are racing to get ready.

Jordan, which relies on Iraqi oil, has constructed storage facilities to stash a four-week supply in addition to an existing two-month reserve as a hedge against war. The Jordanian government even bought a ship that can hold up to 300,000 tons of oil and docked it at Aqaba on the Red Sea.

Iran has set up 19 camps just yards inside its western border to accommodate as many as 1 million Iraqis fleeing the war. Interior Minister Abdol Vahed Musavi-Lari said at a recent news conference that the Tehran government was determined not to let the Iraqis move farther into the country.

U.S. Army Sgt. Carlos Hernandez from Georgia, of the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, sits atop an Abrams tank at sunset at Camp New York, in the Kuwaiti desert. The troops were on patrol earlier this month, preparing for a possible attack on Iraq.

Turkey has also made plans for refugee camps along its border and has shifted military units to block any surge of Kurds who might cross into its territory.

For some countries in the region, preparing for a war they still hope to avert raises delicate political issues. Saudi Arabia, in particular, declines to discuss the need for preparation.

Yet privately, according to some journalists and analysts, the ruling family in Riyadh has begun taking at least modest precautions. Sirens have been tested recently, oil facilities have been running emergency drills in case of attack and the government has been planning to handle an influx of refugees.