News Magazine Says Soviet Union is Preparing Arabs Militarily for War

The Soviet Union is preparing the Arabs militarily for a new war against Israel but the United States position now is “that Israel can defend itself with the arms it has, that more would upset the Mideast arms balance,” the U.S. News !!! World Report said today. The magazine quoted former U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Foy Kohler as stating that the Soviet feud with Red China and the Soviet penetration of the Mideast are “Moscow’s principal preoccupations today and will continue to be for the historic period immediately ahead.” The critical time for the Mideast was set for mid-1969 because by then Soviet training teams in Egypt, Syria and Iraq will have trained enough Arabs to handle new weapons.

The ratio of Arab air power over Israel is “four to one now and growing rapidly on the Arab side – thanks to Russia. The Arabs have nearly 150 Sukhoi-7 attack planes and some 210 MIG-21 Jets. What Israel now wants most is supersonic fighters to restore at least the three to one adverse ratio — but Washington has failed to act,” the magazine said.

Instead of establishing bases flying the Russian flag in the Mideast, the report said the new technique of base building “involves saturating countries like Egypt, Syria, Iraq, with modern Soviet arms, equipment for airfields, ports, repair facilities, small armies of Soviet technicians…Thus, If war comes, these Arabs countries are themselves bases, ready and waiting for warships, planes, and even airborne troops of their Soviet ally.”