Jackson, Udall Focus on the Mideast

Two aspirants for the Democratic Presidential nomination, Sen. Henry M. Jackson of Washington and Rep. Morris Udall of Arizona, addressed themselves to two immediate issue in the Middle East on national television today.

Jackson, appearing on the CBS program “Face the Nation,” warned of dire consequences for the Middle East and the entire world if Syria intervenes unilaterally in the current Lebanese civil strife. Udall, on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” expressed firm opposition to U.S. arms supplies to Egypt.

According to Jackson, “efforts should be made in the strongest way possible to prevent Syria from making that (intervention) move because if Syria does make that move…Israel would move. The Russians would play a strong role because of their heavy commitment to Syria, the United States would be involved, and so on.” Describing Lebanon as “the most dangerous area in the Middle East right now,” Jackson said Syrian intervention there “can lead right on down the road to a confrontation such as we had in “73” including another Arab oil boycott.

Udall said he was opposed to the Ford Administration’s plans to sell Egypt six C-130 transport planes, opening the way for the possible sale of other military hardware to that country. “I would say to (Egyptian President Anwar) Sadat, look, you don’t need tanks you need tractors, you don’t need guns and rockets, you need X-ray equipment and hospital equipment,” Udall said.

He observed that Egypt “isn’t threatened by anybody. It is Israel which is threatened by a half dozen countries surrounding it….We ought to tamp down this arms race in the Middle East and not feed it and build it up,” he said.