Word: arabia
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Jimmy Carter rammed through Congress the sale of 62 F-15s to Saudi Arabia, partly by promising that they would not be outfitted with offensive equipment-such as range-extending fuel tanks. The Saudis, however, soon after felt themselves encircled by unfriendly states. They began asking for more powerful weapons...
...Pakistan. The Saudis renewed that request in September, when the Iran-Iraq war broke out, this time turning to Air Force General David Jones, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was visiting Riyadh. Jones arranged for four U.S. AWACS planes to be dispatched to Saudi Arabia to monitor military movements in the region; the planes are still flying out of Saudi bases with U.S. crews, and will continue doing so through 1984. State Department officials now say that Jones also gave a premature but strong impression that the American planes would soon be replaced by the Saudis...
Whatever Jones may have said, there is no doubt that the Pentagon saw advantages in acceding to the Saudi request. Saudi Arabia is a thinly populated, poorly defended country whose vital oilfields are vulnerable to attack. Ground radar, for example, would give the Saudis only two to four minutes' warning of an assault by Iranian planes flying in low over the gulf. Points out a Pentagon official: "You have to consider the possibility of irrational acts by Iran, and that means anything is possible." The availability of AWACS would extend the warning time to 15 minutes, enough to enable...
...Saudi side and proposed to Reagan's transition teams that the outgoing and incoming Presidents jointly announce a major arms sale. The Reaganauts demurred until they could study the question for themselves. By mid-February the basic decision had been taken to make an arms sale to Saudi Arabia, including some type of surveillance aircraft...
...Israel certainly knew the details shortly after. On March 6, the Reagan Administration formally announced that it intended to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, including "surveillance aircraft." Within a few days the Israeli as well as the U.S. press reported that these planes likely would be AWACS. Even so, when Secretary of State Alexander Haig visited Israel in early April, his hosts expressed objections but down-played them. Reagan aides now profess surprise at the fury of the Israeli response to the formal announcement. Says one: "Whatever is driving the spirited Israeli opposition is not clear...