A special subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee has quietly visited Egypt and Lebanon and made recommendations to Congress especially concerning the need for new equipment by the Egyptian ground forces. The subcommittee was under the chairmanship of Rep. Leroy Johnson, California Republican.
Reporting on an inspection of the Egyptian armored and artillery schools on the outskirts of Cairo and the infantry school at Almoza, the subcommittee said that while “Egyptian ground forces must be ranked high in morale” they “are lacking in equipment. ” It noted the need for new weapons, stating that Egyptian forces were equipped “with old and obsolescent materiel, mostly of British origin. “
In Beirut the subcommittee was briefed on the Israel situation by United States military attaches and American Embassy officials. The subcommittee reported that it was much impressed by the American University of Beirut, which is a center of anti-Israel propaganda.
Simultaneously, it was learned here today that a U.S. military survey mission, headed by Brig. Gen. Harry Myers, has returned to Washington from the Near East with recommendations urging the arming of Iraq. The report and recommendations will be treated confidentially by the Secretaries of Defense and State on whose behalf the trip was made.
The survey mission secretly visited Baghdad where it consulted with Iraqi authorities with a view to extension of free American military aid under the Mutual Security program. This is the same mission which was sent to Pakistan following President Eisenhower’s announcement that Pakistan was eligible for free munitions.
The Mutual Security Act this year provided $30, 000, 000 for Near Eastern arms but only $5,000, 000 was spent, mostly for Ethiopia. This left $25,000,000 to be carried into the new fiscal year of 1955 while an additional appropriation of $50,000,000 has just been requested. This would make $75,000, 000 available in arms for the area as soon as the legislation now before Congress is enacted. Pakistan will get a considerable portion, but authorities here have definite plans to use significant sums to arm Arab League states in line with the new policy.
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