What Are We Thinking? Part I

Apparently without notice to Congress, the Bush Administration has permitted Saudi Arabia to base U.S.-supplied F-15 aircraft at Tabuk airbase, less than 150 km from Israel. This abandons written assurances made by the Carter administration to Congress at the time of the sale and constitutes both a serious threat to and a potentially destabilizing provocation of Israel.

The assurances provided by Secretary of Defense Harold Brown to Congress in 1978 were threefold.

Apparently without notice to Congress, the Bush Administration has permitted Saudi Arabia to base U.S.-supplied F-15 aircraft at Tabuk airbase, less than 150 km from Israel. This abandons written assurances made by the Carter administration to Congress at the time of the sale and constitutes both a serious threat to and a potentially destabilizing provocation of Israel.

The assurances provided by Secretary of Defense Harold Brown to Congress in 1978 were threefold.

– The planes were defensive in nature. “It would be folly… to use the F-15 offensively… Not only would the F-15 be relatively ineffective in an offensive mode, and the risk of loss of the aircraft high, but its use away from Saudi Arabia would leave vital oil facilities, urban centers and military installations without necessary air defense cover.”

– Saudi Government assurances. “It has no aggressive intentions against any state, that it will use the F-15 aircraft only in furtherance of its legitimate self-defense, and that it will not employ the aircraft offensively… transfer the F-15 aircraft to any third country or permit the nationals of such country to train on the F-15 aircraft, serve as pilots, or otherwise to have access to the aircraft without the authorization of the United States.”

– The planes would be based far from Israel. “Assurance (has been) given to me and other United States officials by the Saudi Arabian Government that Saudi Arabia will base the F-15 aircraft, not at Tabuk, but at Dhahran, Taif and possibly at Riyadh or Khamis Mushait.”

For 25 years, these stabilizing assurances made the planes a relatively small part of Israel’s threat picture. However, during the Iraq war the U.S. ended the basing restriction in exchange for overflight rights for U.S. planes and missiles. Israel has asked the U.S. to make the Saudis move them back out of quick strike range. Whatever the U.S. wanted from Saudi Arabia, it should not have been paid for in the currency of Israel’s security or long-term commitments from the administration to Congress.

For both reasons, Congress should insist on an immediate return to status quo ante or avail itself of the option presented by Secretary Brown. The Saudi government, he wrote, “assured us that they intend scrupulously to comply with these prohibitions and restrictions… However, should the assurances be violated, the United States can take appropriate action, including suspension of services and of delivery of spare parts and other military equipment. Without such services the usability of the F-15 would degrade rapidly.”

The same should be true if the U.S. government violates its own assurances.