Former Defense Secretary Denies Carter Administration Favored Selling Awacs to Saudi Arabia

Former Defense Secretary Harold Brown denied today that the Carter Administration recommended that the United States sell five AWACS surveillance planes to Saudi Arabia.

Members of the Reagan Administration, including Secretary of State Alexander Haig and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, have been arguing that Congress should not turn down the $8.5 billion arms package because it was promised for the Saudis by both President Reagan and former President Carter.

But, appearing on ABC-TV’s “Issues and Answers,” program, Brown said he wrote the Saudis last year that he would recommend to the incoming Reagan Administration that they approve the Saudi request for the enhancement equipment for the 62 F-15s they bought in 1978. This included refueling planes, extra fuel tanks, and advanced Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.

But Brown said the Carter Administration only told the Saudis it would “look with favor” on providing them with some type of aerial warning system in the future.

The former Carter Administration official conceded that he had promised Congress in writing in 1978 that the U.S. would not sell any enhancement equipment for the F-15s. But he explained that after the fall of the Shah, the equipment was needed to protect the Saudi oilfields from the new Iranian regime.

SUPPORTS CURRENT PROPOSAL

Brown noted that the Carter Administration did not send the F-15 enhancement package to Congress because the incoming Reagan Administration asked that it be allowed to make the decision. “They (the Reagan Administration) made the decision and they were the ones who added the AWACS to the package,” he said.

The former Defense Secretary said he believed it was a mistake to include the AWACS in the arms package and indicated that it would have been wiser to have proposed the AWACS at a later date. However, he said he now supported the Reagan Administration’s proposal because it would “help U.S. security” and because a rejection would be “damaging … to our ability to conduct foreign policy.”

RATIONALE FOR SALE OF AWACS

A similar point was made by Weinberger, who in an appearance on CBS-TV’s “Face the Nation” program said a Congressional rejection of the sale would mean that the U.S. would have “dealt ourselves an unnecessary damaging blow.” He said this was “not just because of oil” but also because it would damage U.S. relations with the Saudis and other “moderate” Arab states.

Weinberger said it would hurt Reagan’s chances of bringing peace to the Middle East and indicated that the President was seeking the development of the type of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia that now exist between Israel and Egypt.

Weinberger rejected Congressional demands for joint control of the AWACS as a “non-problem.” He asked why the Saudis should be asked for joint ownership, when no such demands were being made in the sale of F-16s to Israel, Pakistan and Venezuela. He maintained that such demands are an infringement of Saudi sovereignty, noting that the desert Kingdom is “one of the few in the world that pays cash (for arms) as opposed to being given them.”

Weinberger ignored the argument by many in Congress that the Saudis are the only foreign country being sold the AWACS and that they fear that the ultra-sophisticated weapons may fall into unfriendly hands. The Defense Secretary said that because the AWACS are so “complicated” there will be a “major American presence” in training crews and in maintaining the planes and equipment for many years.

REJECTS CLAIM OF SAUDI INTERFERENCE

The Defense Secretary also rejected a claim that the Saudis were interferring in U.S. foreign relations by threatening to go elsewhere if the AWACS were not sold to them. Reagan, in his press conference last week, warned about foreign interference in U.S. foreign policy, a warning that was widely interpreted as being aimed at Israel. See story P.4

Weinberger said that the Saudis were only saying that they needed the AWACS for their defense and that if they did not get it, they would go elsewhere, probably buying the British Nimrod, which the Defense Secretary said had almost all the capabilities of the AWACS. He said such an occurrence would not be helpful to the “security of Israel.”