2 Friday,-: Uptake THE IATRINTeLlEWISif NEWS = Purely Commentary The `No Bargain' AWACS Proposal and the Urgency of Continuing Nationwide Effort to Prevent It Whatever the efforts. to pacify opponents of the sale of the threatening-to-peace•AWACS jets, to reduce the dan- gers manipulatively, the "bargain" spells doom and should be fought to the very last to prevent the sale. It's a great pity that the Reagan forces do not recognize the need of calling a halt to the devastating proposals that could affect not only the Middle East but the peace of the world. Offering deadly weapons to the Saudis could mean their falling into the bands of the very people against whom the military hardware is intended. Therefore, President Reagan could do much better by challenging the Saudis claims rather than submitting entirely to oil pressures. Proof that the AWACS deal is not worth being treated with the respect given it by the Administration is provided by Stephen D. Goose, senior research analyst at the non- profit Center for Defense Information, Washington, who stated in a New York Times Op-Ed Page article: While some people may see the sale as evidence that the United States is a reliable arms supplier, it is certainly not evidence that the United States is a consistent, trustworthy foreign policy part- ner. President Carter gave Congress explicit as- surances in 1978 that the United States would not at any time provide the Saudis with equipment to enhance the offensive capability of the F-15. Our reputation for honoring our word will be ques- tioned if Mr. Reagan is allowed to ignore the promises of his predecessor. The military benefits of the sale are few and the risks are high for both Saudi Arabia and the United States. The proposed sale is not necessary to meet any new Saudi military need. As Stansfield Turner, former director of central in- telligence, has pointed out, the sale is not even in Saudi Arabia's best interests. It would divert at- tention from its more urgent threat of domestic insurrection and internal disorder. The majority opinion in both the U:S. Senate and the House of Representatives thus far registered in opposition to the sale augurs well for the present. It will hopefully remain a powerful critic of anything approaching the threatening possibilities stemming from the projected sale. Congressional opinion was echoed in editorials in lead- ing newspapers, including the Detroit Free Press and the Philadelphia Enquirer. To the New York Times goes the credit for a most definitive editorial (Aug. 27), declaring, "The AWACS Deal Is No Bargain." Here is its full text: The Reagan Administration, which prides itself on driving hard bargains abroad, has now for- mally proposed what looks like a sweetheart deal with the Saudis. They would get AWACS radar planes as part of an $8.5 billion package brimming with the most advanced arms. What would America get in return? On present evidence, too little. It's good that Congress has.until Oct. 30 to examine the fine print, for unless Mr. Reagan can make a better case for it, this deal is no bargain. The deal, to begin with, involves much more than electronic spy planes. The five AWACS planes would complement F-15 fighters America has already agreed to supply. And these would be given extended range and armed with Sidewinder missiles. All that muscle is relevant to one supposed benefit of the deal: it would deter possible attack on vital Saudi oil fields. By whom? Southern Yemen or Ethiopia, the Administration says. But these backward Soviet clients pose a meager threat indeed, hardly enough to justify selling such advanced arms to one side in the volatile Middle East. Is there, then, some other security benefit? Well, it is hinted in Washington, Saudi air power could deter a Soviet advance into the Persian Gulf. Yet if there were any such thrust, everyone knows America would respond directly. Besides, the Saudis shrug off the Soviet peril and say they need to deter a quite different adversary—Israel. There is yet another supposed benefit of the sale: it.would ingratiate America with the House of Saud. But why is that necessary? True, the Saudis have been a restraining force within OPEC — but that suits their own interests. Their moderation has already been rewarded with the flock of F-15s. If Congress vetoes the new arms deal, would the Saudis turn to the godless East for their defense needs? Not even the Administration claims that. For this tricky arms deal to become attractive, more is required from the Saudis. If they are to get the most advanced weapons system, they should Authoritative Analysts' Conclusions Point to A Bad Bargain for U.S. in AWACS Sale ... Reagan Administration Confronted With Bipartisan Admonitions Not to Yield to Saudi Pressures also be active peacemaking partners in the Mid- dle East. The prize sought by successive Adminis- trations is open acknowledgment of Israel's right to exist. Yet even now, the Saudis' Prince Fand outlines a "peace" plan that again asks the im-, possible and again scorns the attainable, a com- promise tettlement rooted in the Camp David ac- cords. That may be double talk meant to mollify Arab radicals. The Saudis did, after all, work quietly with the United States and Israel in bringing about a cease-fire in Lebanon. Still, Israelis can be excused for fearing otherwise should the Saudis acquire a real offensive capacity. Could American weapons be used against Is- rael? The Administration has not yet showed this to be impossible. It says no, but knows perfectly well that arms sale promises can be as insubstan- tial as the rings of Saturn. Israel, too, was bound by a weapons pledge — and yet loosed American-built planes on Baghdad and Beirut. For that matter, how much are American prom- ises worth? Just three years ago, Congress ap- proved selling 62 F-15s to Saudi Arabia on the express condition that their offensive range would not be extended. Now the Administration wants to untie the string. Neither Ronald Reagan nor Jimmy Carter have seriously pressed for Saudi concessions when their leverage was strongest — before delivering sophisticated weapons. Until and unless it is shown that the new Sauid package really is a bar- gain, Congress ought to say no. Thus exposed, the battle against the sale goes on. The appeal to the opponents of the projected sale is not to yield to unrealistic concessions. The request addressed to the President is to be realistic and to admit an error in time to avert calamities. Indeed, the battle against the sale of the AWACS must continue in anticipation of success, averting injustice as well as political blunders. it Is a Non-Partisan Issue and the Opposition Must Carry on on the Basis of a Just Principle Hopefully, the forces in Congress opposing the AWACS sale to the Saudis will grow rather than diminish. This would not be to the discredit of the Reagan Adminis- tration. On the contrary, it would give emphasis to the importance of non-partisanship in a just effort to prevent a national blunder. Emphasis on the non-partisan character of the or- ganized opposition to the AWACS sale is in the manner in which leading Republicans have reacted to the proposal. A typical case is that of Congressman William S. Broomfield, the ranking Republican member of the House of Represen- tatives Foreign Affairs Committee. In a speech opposing the sale, Congressman Broomfield said, in part: In brief, AWACS in Saudi airspace can take a deep look into unfriendly territory, detect and access the significance of military movements, and direct an attack against them. Although terri- tory unfriendly to Saudi Arabia could mean Iran or Iraq, it could also mean Israel, against whom King Khalid declared a jihad or holy war last January. An Israeli tank could not move 20 feet without the Saudis knowing should they obtain the E-3A (AWACS). detection This capability in Arab hands would deprive the Israelis of any opportunity to pre- empt strikes against it by hostile neighbors. To rob a nation of Israel's geographic size and population of the possibility of pre- emption would doom it to devastation. The greatest Israeli skill and courage could not over- come the numbers of advanced Syrian, Iraqi and other Arab WILLIAM BROOMFIELD aircraft were they di- rected by Saudi AWACS. Israel's qualitative military edge, which Secre- tary Haig has stated is in U.S. interests to support, would vanish once the AWACS were in Saudi in- ventory. And no number of additional F-15 or F-16 aircraft in the Israeli Air Force — even on conces- sional terms — could restore this critical edge. By Philip Slomovitz U.S. interests would, in fact, best be served by _ an indefinite continuation of current American arrangements regarding the AWACS with Saudi Arabia. Therefore, I urge the Administration to recon- sider, if it has indeed already made a decision, the sale of AWACS to Saudis Arabia. This sale runs counter to U.S. interests and I oppose it. Rather than transferring the AWACS to Saudi Arabia, which would only fuel the Mideast con- flict, the United States should devote itself to promoting a just and fair peace in the region. It is the non-partisanship evidenced here that merits special consideration, in the selection of this quotation from the many statements uttered in Congress. Thus the battle for pragmatism in American foreign affairs goes on. Hopefully, as stated, the opposition to'the AWACS proposal will gain additional adherents. William Satire Unaffected by Canards, Unlike U.S. Diplomat Leaving Syria, Hails Mr. Begin William Safire, New York Times Op-Ed Page es- sayist, defied many canards. He rises above the hatreds that have char- acterized many columnists with some kind words about Israel Prime Minister Menahem Begin. In a dispatch from Jerusalem, Safire wrote about "The Jewish De- Gaulle." In an interesting comparison of the two heroes in differing areas, quoting the Israeli militant leader in the process of com- paring past events in eras of WILLIAM SAFIRE discord, the NYTimes es- sayist has these compliments for the Israeli leader: I think a comparison between Mr. Begin and the always-difficult, right-in-the-long-run DeGaulle is far from lame. Menahem Begin in 1930 believed, against the vast majority, that a Jewish state would be created, and he was right. In 1935 he predicted, against the majority, that Hitler planned a holocaust, and was right. In 1941, when many Jews and others were sympathetic to the Soviet Union, he opposed Communism so strongly he was imprisoned in Siberia; he was right about the Soviet menace early, too. In 1943, he believed it would take military force to get the British to keep their word, and was probably right, and in 1948 opposed, against the majority, assigning the West Bank to Jordan, and now we see how right he was. Satire didn't pull punches. He analyzed Menahem Be- gin: Menahem Begin is not exactly a press agent's dream. He lectures television newsmen about their questions; he makes ultra-assimilated American Jews uncomfortable with his accented English and pricks other consciences with un- wanted reminders of the Holocaust; after his Be- irut bombing blunder, he seems bellicose, rigid, didactic. I like him. This is a viewpoint that negates the venom often stemming from those who abuse diplomatic privileges. An example was provided by Talcott W. Seelye, who will retire next month from the ambassadorship to Syria and 32 years of U.S. diplomatic service. Seelye must be viewed as undermining the Middle East peace effort with his recommendation that the Camp David agreements be abandoned by the Reagan Adminis- tration and that the U.S. "exchange views with the PLO." As an indication of a prejudice that poisons this attitude was his statement: "It is impossible for Begin to diVest Israel of the West Bank, dhtl secondly he is totally blind to the Palestinian problem." He contended there will be a solution to the problem only "in the post-Begin period." This is a clear invitation to antagonism that leads to vio- lence and murder in countries like Iran. and Libya. It ig- nores the truth that Israel does not suffer such outrages under Begin or any other Israeli leader, no matter what the political differences. It ignores the truth that it was .hfenahem Begin who inspired a policy ending Israeli war- fare with an Arab country (Egypt). It takes courage to defy all the prejudices that have marked the anti-Begin attitudes, and William Satire dis- played it. There is an indication of undignified venom in a retiring diplomat's instigation to bitterness. Begin will surely survive the hatreds.