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Congress Takes The Lead
Against Saudi Arms Sale

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Washington Correspondent

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34

FRIDAY, OCT. 9, 1987

T. C B.Y.

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Victoria's

he Administration is
getting ready to reveal
its latest proposal to
sell advanced weapons to the
government of Saudi Arabia,
and there are strong indica-
tions that an attempt will be
made to work out a com-
promise with several major
pro-Israel groups here in the
Capital.
Meanwhile, it appears that
this time around, Congress is
taking the lead in opposing
the sale, which must be ap-
proved after a manditory no-
tification period. Already,
more than 60 senators and
250 representatives have
signed letters indicating their
displeasure with the rumored
Administration move.
"The pro-Israel groups have
done their work well," said
one source with one of the
foreign affairs committees on
the Hill. "While Jewish
groups are talking about
some kind of compromise
plan, Congress is already
blasting away at the whole
idea of an arms sale. This
makes the pro-Israel groups
look like real moderates in
this whole thing."
The Administration's pri-
mary bargaining chips are the
1600 Maverick anti-tank
missiles that were the center-
piece of the last proposed
sale, which was shot down in
June before Congress could
sink its teeth into the issue.
At several recent meetings
between officials of Jewish
organizations and represen-
tatives of the White House,
the Administration delicately
indicated a willingness to
delete the Mavericks, which
represent a significant threat
to Israel, in return for accept-
. ance of the scaled-down arms
proposal.
According to several mili-
tary analysts, the missiles are
easily transportable and
adaptable to a wide range of
aircraft. Presumably, some
might find their way into
Syria, where they would pose
a serious danger to Israeli
tank forces.
Also on the bargaining
table is the exact nature of
the F-15 replacement program
proposed by the Administra-
tion. According to one pro-
posed plan, the F15s would be
supplied on an individual
replacement basis—one new
plane for every plane lost in
accidents or through main-
tenance problems.
The other prong in the Ad-
ministration's attack is its

Sen. Alan Cranston

quiet but insistent defense of
the role of Saudi Arabia in
supporting U.S. troops in the
Persian Gulf. Opponents of
the sale don't see much prog-
ress in Saudi cooperation; the
Administration, in closed
briefings for selected mem-
bers of congress, has cited
new instances of new Saudi
cooperation, but has not
made this information widely
available. The Saudis haven't
helped matters by refusing to
disclose the details of any
cooperation with U.S. forces.
The major obstacle to any
deal on arms for Riyadh is ap-
parently in the Senate, where
Sen. Alan Cranston and Sen.
Bob Packwood are leading
the charge against the sales.
There are indications that
other legislators with strong
pro-Israel records—Sen. Bill
Bradley (D-NJ) leads the
list—may accept a comprom-
ise arms sale proposal.
Packwood, according to a
spokesperson, is opposed to
Saudi arms sales in principal,
on the grounds that the gov-
ernment in Riyadh continues
to support terrorism in the
Middle East. This spokes-
person indicated that a
change in the contents of the
sale proposal would probably
not alter the senator's opposi-
tion. Packwood's office also
reports no new overtures by
the Administration.
There are conflicting
reports about the role of the
largest pro-Israel political
group, the American Israeli
Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC), and there are hints
that this is a reflection of in-
ternal debate on the subject
within the organization. A
spokesperson for the group
said that at press time, there
was no change in the Ex-
ecutive Committee's decision
early in September to oppose
energetically the newest arms
sale proposal.
Another source said that
AIPAC might be willing to go
along with a scaled down
sale—but only if Cranston
and Packwood concur, a pos-

sibility that is seen as remote.
An underlying component
to the issue is the possibility
that the Administration's
steadfast determination to
sell weapons to the Riydah
government may represent a
byproduct of the Iran arms
scandal, which put the
Reagan administration on the
defensive with the more
moderate Arab states. "They
feel like they're on a losing
streak when it comes to ma-
jor arms sales to Persian Gulf
countries," said a foreign
policy aide to a Democratic
congressman. "They really
think they have to follow
through on this one."
And to make matters still
more complex, the Saudi
arms issue represents another
front in the ongoing battle
between Congress and the

Sen. Bob Packwood

Administration over the prop-
er roles of each in setting
American foreign policy.
There is little doubt that
the pro-Israel community
here is ambivalent about the
sale. On one hand, there is
fear of establishing a prece-
dent that could lead to addi-
tional sales of advanced
weapons to countries un-
friendly to Israel. And there
is concern that any weapons
sold to the Saudis might end
up in the hands of Syrian or
PLO forces, or in the hands of
a Moslem extremist govern-
ment that might topple the
Riydah monarchy.
At the same time, Jewish
activists recognize that the
fall of the Saudi monarchy
would be a catastrophe for
the Jewish state. "Attention
has moved away from Israel,
which is probably a good
thing," according • to
Shoshana Bryen of the Jew-
ish Institute for National
Security Affairs. "People here
are starting to look to the
needs of other states in that
region. People are looking at
what could happen if the
Saudi monarchy fell. There
are really only two alterna-

