Washington Pleased with Israeli Withdrawal from Lebanon; Jets Still Under Consideration

Secretary of State William P. Rogers said today that the Nixon administration was pleased that the Israeli troops were withdrawing from Lebanon. In an announced press conference that dealt mostly with Cambodia and student unrest, Mr. Rogers said the United States regrets “any military action in the (Middle East) area,” but “we realize that when you consider what happened, you have to consider the causes. “There was clearly a great deal of guerrilla activity in the area,” he said. Mr. Rogers said that the U.S. had cautioned both the Arabs and the Israelis that attack and retaliation would only lead to more retaliation and attack. He said that the administration had no additional information on the Russian pilots in Egypt beyond the State Department statement two weeks ago that the U.S. had confirmed their presence separately from the Israeli charge. He also said that the proposal to send Phantom jets to Israel was “still under consideration.”