Clean Up: The End of the Week and the Year

We’ve written on the movement of Saudi F-15s from the south to Tabuk in the north near Israel (JINSA Reports #358-359). It now appears that Secretary Rumsfeld lifted the restrictions that were part of Congress’s considerations in approving the sale in 1978. News reports say he “cited the Saudi need to defend its air space amid the deterioration of its aging F-5 and Tornado fleets” and “asserted that Riyad demonstrated its loyalty as a peaceful U.S.

We’ve written on the movement of Saudi F-15s from the south to Tabuk in the north near Israel (JINSA Reports #358-359). It now appears that Secretary Rumsfeld lifted the restrictions that were part of Congress’s considerations in approving the sale in 1978. News reports say he “cited the Saudi need to defend its air space amid the deterioration of its aging F-5 and Tornado fleets” and “asserted that Riyad demonstrated its loyalty as a peaceful U.S. ally in the Middle East.” According to the MENL report, the Secretary “dismissed the prospect that the kingdom would use the F-15s against Israel.”

Now, 25 years is a long time to hold a policy in place, and if circumstances dictate a change in the restrictions on Saudi F-15s, we could probably live with it, although frankly, we cannot imagine against whom Saudi Arabia plans to defend its air space. However, at the same time Mr. Rumsfeld was touting the peaceful kingdom as a loyal ally, the State Department was announcing that 300 non-essential U.S. government staffers and their families would depart Saudi Arabia at Washington’s expense. The 30,000 American non-government personnel in the kingdom were also advised to leave amid new information of al Qaeda plots.

It should not be possible for the U.S. government to hold two entirely conflicting opinions at the same time. Which is it?

We painfully know that airplanes can be used as missiles and our concern is not that the Saudi government would choose to attack Israel, but that the Saudi government may not be running the show for long. In that case, every minute of early warning time could become important for Israel to stop an attack from the Saudi peninsula.

Cheers to Israel Radio’s Farsi language news service: Israel’s Iranian-born defense minister Shaul Mofaz did a live broadcast to Iran in Farsi; the call-in questions came thick and fast – and friendly. One report said, “Mofaz … wished the Iranian people success in their struggle for freedom. But a stream of callers pleaded for Israel to intervene to help overthrow the Islamic regime. The defense minister replied it was up to the Iranian people to determine its fate. But he also mentioned the U.S. role in the region and said the Americans had much work to do after prevailing in Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran and Syria were still there as key elements of Bush’s axis of evil. This reply brought forth a chorus of listeners who wanted to persuade the Israeli minister that the Teheran regime was more of a danger to the region and the world than Saddam Hussein had ever been.

“At the end of the 50-minute program, Mofaz said he couldn’t have imagined the depth of sympathy for Israel entertained by ordinary Iranians – in sharp contrast to the violence and hate emanating from the rulers of the Islamic Republic. Israel Radio’s Farsi service has become a byword among a wide audience in Iran. Last week, an Iranian legislator who voiced sharp criticism in parliament of the Iranian government was asked sarcastically whether he was Menashe Amir, director of Israel Radio’s Farsi service, in disguise.”