Thousands of Saudian Troops in Syria and Jordan in Support of Common Arab Front Against Israel

The Ford Administration acknowledged to Congress yesterday that Saudi Arabia has some 5000 troops in Syria and as many more in Jordan in support of “the common Arab front” against Israel. But Alfred C. Atherton Jr., Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, testifying before the House International Relations Committee’s subcommittee on international political and military affairs, denied that Saudi Arabia’s American-equipped forces would make “a substantial difference” in another Arab-Israeli war.

Atherton said he could not “rule out the possibility of some engagement” by Saudi Arabia in a future Arab-Israel war “but one cannot say it will be absolutely the case,” he said. He admitted that “there is, of course, no ultimate guarantee that military equipment we sell to one state will not be transferred to another.” But, he testified, “there are serious” political and legal restraints and “technical limitations.”

Atherton’s appearance before the subcommittee was intended to justify the Ford Administration’s new $1.2 billion arms sales program for Saudi Arabia that will bring U.S. military equipment and services to that country in the past six months to about $5 billion in contracts. He declared that the sales “would not significantly affect” the “relative balance of forces in Saudi Arabia and its neighbors.”

ARMS SALE POLICY BLASTED

Rep. Benjamin S. Rosenthal (D.NY) filed objections to the seven parts of the latest arms sales program for Saudi Arabia. He and Rep. Dante Fascell (D.Fla.), the subcommittee chairman who scheduled the hearing, both blistered the Administration’s policy on arms sales. They elicited testimony from Atherton and Lt. Col. Carl Grantham of the Defense Department on the effects of the highly sophisticated weaponry the U.S has contracted to sell Saudi Arabia, including the tank-destroying “Dragon” missile that can be handled by a single foot soldier like a rifle.

Congress can block or reduce the program if both houses concur within 20 days. Indications were, however, that Rosenthal lacked the votes for holding back the program. No Senate action has yet been scheduled. The subcommittee took the program under advisement. Atherton also presented programs for $170 million in military assistance for Morocco and $150 million for Iran’s air force.

Atherton, backed by State and Defense Department experts, told the subcommittee that the Administration is proceeding with its military programs because Saudi Arabia “carries considerable weight both politically in the Middle East and on a world scale in financial and energy areas.” He said it was in the U.S. interests to maintain mutually beneficial relations with Saudi Arabia.

The latest program includes construction of naval headquarters at Riyadh, naval facilities at Jidda on the Red Sea and Jubail on the Persian Gulf, and cargo handling facilities near Jidda and on the Persian Gulf. The program also includes military equipment and services to mechanize two Saudian brigades with tanks, armored personnel carriers, “Dragon” missiles and “Vulcan” guns. Saudi Arabia presently has five brigades, one of them mechanized, Atherton said.

THREE BROADER POINTS

In his prepared statement, the Assistant Secretary said it would be “an incomplete perspective” to view this arms program in terms of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He listed “three broader points”: the vast terrain and resources of Saudi Arabia; its relationship to the U.S. that seeks to limit “the expansion of Soviet and radical influences in the Middle East,” and “the fact” that refusal by the U.S. to provide equipment would be seen “as a conscious and witting step away from our present close relationship” with Saudi Arabia.

Atherton declined, for the time being, to respond to questions as to what other countries have the “Dragon” or “Maverick” missiles which the U.S. intends to supply to the Saudians. He promised to supply that information later. Questioned by Rosenthal about Saudian discrimination against certain American citizens, Atherton said he was not aware of any case in which Saudi Arabia has refused to admit any U.S. official. But he acknowledged that Saudi Arabia does not permit Zionism and equates Zionism with the Jewish State.