THE RED PAW IN THE ARAB TENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70-00058R000100020070-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 16, 1998
• Sequence Number: 70
• Publication Date: October 1, 1955
• Content Type: NSPR

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The Red Paw in the Arab Tent
From an Artier b
__ _. .. .
N
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an
genuinely worried, over Moscow's arms
official reason given by Secy. Of State John
Foster Dulles. It is true, as Mr. Dulles says,
that by selling arms to.-Egypt, the Czechs
threaten to ;touch off an arms race in the
Middle East that dan_ explode into full-scale
Mr. Dulles has personally remonstrated
this prospect twice to date and will un-
doubtedly do so again at Geneva.
But there's a bigger worry bothering Mr.
arms deal, than even the prospect of Arab-
Israeli hostilities. There's the danger, very
real danger, that by this arms deal (and
by others with other Arab countries) Mos-
up In Greece and Turkey by the Truman
Soviet power within its postwar. borders.
the Kremlin which for centuries has been
. trying by hook or crook, by bluster or bar-
gain, to reach the Mediterranean and break
out into the Indian Ocean would have taken
a long step toward its goal. Mr. Dulles'
scheme to hold the Communist lines to their
WEDGE-Of course, merely a single arms
deal, or even several arms deals, does not
automatically make Moscow the protector
of the Arab world, That is too crude a way
to put it. But if Egypt,,.if Saudi Arabia, if
Syria become dependent un-can be made
dependent on-Moscow for weapons then
the Kremlin has gone a long way toward
becoming ideological adviser to all the
sheikhs of Arabia. And it is too much to
hope certainly too naive to expect, that once
Moscow is supplying the Arab world with
arms It is not going to see that ideological
technicians move in with those weapons.
How do you bar the door to 'ommunist
penetration when the Commies come bear-,
jag gifts, not threatening destruction, offer-
Ing arms, not pointing guns at you? This
has 11 ,r. Dulles-in a quandary,.,_ and no pint-
sized ._ ne, I can assure yo '
It 41so has. the ,other MrIles,-Allen
Dulles, Foster Dulles's brothe-- "".and boss of
'LfA, struggling in -this same quandary.
Only Allen. talks even less than his brother
about his worries. But, as he knovp. full
well, Moscow not only has good reason to
make itself the arsenal of the Arab world
but it has the arms to implement its In-
terest.
SURPLUS-In fact the Soviets have arms,
figuratively, running out of their ears. They
have a stock of usable, 'salable, but not
last-minute weapons that dwarfs most na-
tional arsenals. They have thousands of
postwar tanks and jet fighter planes that
are surplus by Soviet standards but in A-1
shape for Arab use. They have the MIG-
15s nbt being expended in Korea, in Indo-
china, over Formosa-some four to six thou-
sand of these planes that are no match for
the newest Soviet jet fighters but would
please any Arab pilot or defense chief.
From the Soviet standpoint the 'setup
couldn't be better. The Arabs want these
weapons; the Soviets have them by the thou-
sands. The Arabs hold the gateways to the
warm waters of the Mediterranean and In-
dian Ocean; the Soviets would give their
eyeteeth for access to those waters. And now
it develops all they may have to give is
some used surplus weapons!
You can't blame them for smiling broadly
and contentedly-and momentarily forget-
ting about Europe and NATO and other un-
pleasant subjects. This is that ideal setup
that lets you eat your cake and have it too.
The Soviets can get rid of a lot of surplus
weapons and also extend their lines of in-
fluence and penetration.
Of course, the Arabs disagree with this
estimate. They think they can fake the So-
viet weapons and let the Communist . in-
fluence go. They claim they can outsmart
the Russian Bear; that they can take the
arms without the coating' 'of communism
that._g,Qgs_ with them. But can they-?
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