U.S. Plans to Go Ahead with a Major Arms Sale to Jordan

The Reagan Administration plans to go ahead with a major arms sale to Jordan despite strong Congressional opposition because it believes it will be helpful to the Middle East peace process, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Murphy stressed Wednesday.

Testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East, Murphy said the sale is a “signal” to the Arab states of the intention of the U.S. to stand behind the peace process for “the long run.” He said the sale is a “gesture” needed by Jordan to demonstrate that the U.S. “recognizes both its military needs and its political needs.”

Murphy, who heads the State Department’s Near Eastern and South Asian bureau, was reiterating the position taken by Secretary of State George Shultz before various Congressional committees in the last few weeks. Murphy said the U.S. proposes to sell Jordan advanced anti-aircraft and aircraft systems but would not be specific about whether Jordan would receive F-16 or F-20 fighter planes. The Administration has let it be known that it will not announce any sale until after Yom Kippur, September 25. Murphy said that while the U.S. plans to sell Saudi Arabia some spare parts for military equipment it now has, no other major arms sales to any Arab country is planned.

Saudi Arabia announced earlier this week that it plans to buy 48 Tornado fighters and 30 Hawk trainers from Britain. The Saudis reportedly received approval from the Reagan Administration to buy the British planes because the Administration feared a major battle with Congress if it met the Saudi request for some 40 F-15 fighers from the U.S.

Murphy rejected a suggestion by Rep. Lee Hamilton (D. Ind.), the Subcommittee’s chairman, for a compromise on the sale to Jordan. Rep. Mel Levine (D. Calif.), also suggested a compromise, declaring that rather than helping the peace process, selling sophisticated arms to Jordan would be “counter-productive.”

Rep. Lawrence Smith (D. Fla.) said there has been a history of 35 years of “frustration” in which arms were linked to the peace process and nothing happened. He said the U.S. has a “carrot and stick policy” in which it provides the carrot and “we beat ourselves with the stick.”

Smith said that instead of supplying arms in return for promises, the U.S. should see the fulfillment of the promises first. “We have done everything we can, ” he said, adding that it was now up to King Hussein of Jordan to cross not the Rubicon but the Jordan River and begin negotiations with Israel.

MURPHY’S CONTENTION REJECTED

Members of the Subcommittee rejected Murphy’s contention that Hussein has met the requirement of the 1986 Foreign Aid Act that before any new arms can be sold to Jordan, President Reagan must certify that Jordan is committed to recognize Israel and negotiate with the Jewish State. Reagan, in signing the Act in August, said those conditions had been met.

Murphy maintained that Hussein, in his statements during his visit to Washington last May, said publicly that he was committed to the recognition of Israel and negotiations with Israel. Hussein is scheduled to meet with Reagan in Washington on September 30.

Murphy said that Hussein’s proposal for a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation to meet with the U.S. is seen as a “warm-up” for negotiations with Israel. He said the U.S. also expected the meeting to ensure that United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 would be seen as the only basis for negotiations.

But Murphy stressed that the meeting with the joint delegation would not be used for negotiations nor would it be a meeting of the U.S. with the Palestine Liberation Organization. He conceded that there has been no change in the U.S. position toward the seven members proposed by Hussein as the Palestinian representatives on the joint delegation. Murphy indicated that while the U.S. has approved two names, it is still arguing with Jordan about whether the five others are or are not members of the PLO.