Strong bipartisan opposition is seen in Congress to the State Department’s proposal Monday to sell 1,600 Maverick air-to-ground missiles to Saudi Arabia.
About 30 Senators have written to President Reagan stating that the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia, including the Mavericks, is “not in our best interests.” The Senators note the opposition of Saudi Arabia to any peace initiatives with Israel, “our best friend in the region,” and ask if “these are the actions of a friend.”
State Department spokesman Charles Redman said the $360 million Maverick sale was already approved by Congress in 1984, but delivery was delayed at the Saudis’ request.
The arms sale will occur unless Congress blocks it within 30 days. The Administration, citing the 1984 agreement, refused to give Congress the 20-day advance notification of the sale.
“There’s no good justification anywhere for this sale,” Rep. Mel Levine (D. Calif.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “It’s obviously an Administration effort to buy back some of the credibility lost through the Iranian arms sale.”
Levine, who said he would introduce a resolution to oppose the sale, said the Mavericks sale was a case of the Administration “salami slicing” the arms package so that while each individual sale was not enormous, its total effect is significant.
MORE LETHAL, SAYS AIPAC
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee said that the Mavericks in question are more lethal and are significantly more sophisticated than those approved for sale by Congress in 1984. The newer version has never been exported before, according to AIPAC. “They’re so upgraded, they could be in a class by themselves,” said an AIPAC spokesperson.
The proposed sale of the Maverick missiles comes a week after the Reagan Administration announced that it would postpone the sale of 60 F-15 fighter planes to Saudi Arabia. The delay came in the aftermath of the refusal of two Saudi F-15s to force down the Iraqi jet that attacked the U.S. missile frigate Stark in the Persian Gulf.
The State Department has defended the Saudi response, saying that the pilots didn’t get authorization to stop the jet. “The Saudis do quite a bit in terms of providing combat air patrol support for the AWACs (surveillance planes) that are in the (Gulf) region,” Redman said.
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