Symington; Mideast Peace Contingent on Agreement Between U.s., USSR

Sen. Stuart Symington (D.Mo.) said yesterday that peace in the Middle East depends, in the last resort, on an agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union “as to what should or should not be done” in that region. He made his comments in reply to questions on the ABC television program “Issues and Answers.”

The “basic problems” incident to the Middle East “not only have to do with the new oil problem but also with some form of agreement between the Soviet Union and United States,” Symington said. “If we could get some agreement between these two superpowers as to what should or should not be done in the Middle East, that would be the only thing that could put us all more at ease with respect to a possible future war out there.”

Symington, who has served in the Senate for 23 years and is a ranking member of its powerful Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees, drew a sharp distinction between America’s role in the Middle East and in Indo-China.

Asked if the U.S. pull-out from Vietnam may have undermined its credibility in insuring the viability of Israel, Symington replied: “In the first place, the Israeli situation is entirely different. I was Secretary of the Air Force when the State of Israel was created. Nobody had more to do with it than President Truman, unless it was Mr., (Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei) Gromyko himself. There we did have a commitment in effect to protect the State. I know of no such commitment whatever incident to Vietnam or Cambodia.”

Asked whether, in the event Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger’s current peace efforts in the Middle East are unsuccessful, the U.S. should return to the Geneva peace conference and re-involve the Soviet Union, Symington replied that in that event, “I don’t see where else we can go except Geneva.”