Chairman Stuart Symington of the Near Eastern Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee accused the Administration today of using “a trick of backdoor financing” to ship arms to Arabs and others without the knowledge and consent of Congress. The Missouri Democrat, former Secretary of the Air Force, criticized the “Country X” loans made by the U.S. Export-Import Bank to finance arms purchased largely by the Arab states. He said he doubted that a single senator knew of the arms financing program initiated in 1964 and he announced that he would vote in the Foreign Relations Committee to abolish the revolving fund from which “Country X” loans are made.
State Department spokesman Robert McCloskey said today that consultations were continuing on the question of American arms shipments to other nations. He declined to comment on congressional criticism of secret financing of arms for Arab states.
At Columbus, Ga., U.S. Army authorities said here today that seven Arab officers from nations that severed relations with America and declared war against Israel were taking military training courses at Fort Benning, the army’s infantry and paratroop center. Two Iraqi and five Sudanese officers will be permitted to complete their studies “as a matter of practicality.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
