CODEL FOWLER: MEETING WITH MINISTER OF DEFENSE ARENS- LEBANON

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90B01370R000801030034-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 19, 2010
• Sequence Number: 34
• Publication Date: February 15, 1984
• Content Type: CABLE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90BO137OR000801030034-3
PAwJr'IRCwITI A I
PAGE 001
TOR: 1520402 FEB 84
00 RUEAIIB
ZNY CCCCC ZOC STATE ZZH
STU9509
00 RUEHC
DE RUEHTV #2644/01 0461721
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
0 151714Z FEB 84
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9417
INFO RUEKJCS/DIP WASHINGTON DC
RUFHRS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 1506
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 4587
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 2676
RUEHAD/USINT BAGHDAD 2801
RUEHBL/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4364
RUFHOL/AMEMBASSY BONN 4892
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 2181
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 8092
RUDKPNQ/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN 1016
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 0619
RUEHAM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 3083
RUEHJI/AMEMBASSY JIDDA 8756
RUEHLD/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1032
RUFHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 3642
RUFHRA/AMEMBASSY RABAT 1343
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 5935
RUEHRH/USELO RIYADH 4954
RUDKKR/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 2430
RUEHDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3674
RUSNNOA/USCINCEUR VAIHINGEN
RUDORRA/USNMR SHAPE BE
BT
TEL AVIV 02644
EXDIS
CINCEUR FOR POLAD, BRUSSELS FOR USEC
E.O. 12356: DECL: OADR
TAGS: PREL, IS, LE, US, OREP, (FOWLER,W)
SUBJECT: CODEL FOWLER: MEETING WITH MINISTER OF
DEFENSE ARENS - LEBANON
1. CONFIDENTIAL ENTIRE TEXT.
2. BEGIN SUMMARY. DURING FEBRUARY 13 MEETING WITH CODEL
FOWLER, ARENS QUESTIONED WHETHER LEBANON PRESIDENT
GEMAYEL CAN BE SAVED" AND REGRETTED THAT ISRAEL AND
THE UNITED STATES HAD NOT WORKED TOGETHER EARLIER IN
SUPPORT OF HIM. ARENS VIEWED THE FUTURE OF THE
LEBANESE GOVERNMENT AS DEPENDENT ON THE LAF PUTTING ITS
ACT TOGETHER AND SAID HE DOES NOT SEE ISRAEL
TAKING MILITARY ACTION IN BEIRUT." SHOULD GEMAYEL
f`nhICIr1raINITI A 1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90BO137OR000801030034-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90BO137OR000801030034-3
CONFIDENTIAL
84 3386460 SCO PAGE 002 NC 3386460
TOR: 1520402 FEB 84
COLLAPSE, ISRAEL WOULD STAY IN THOSE AREAS IN
SOUTHERN LEBANON NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN SECURITY OF
NORTHERN ISRAEL. AS FOR POSSIBLE IDF REDEPLOYMENT,
THE DOMINANT CONSIDERATION WOULD BE PREVENTING
ISRAELI CIVILIANS LIVING IN THE NORTHERN BORDER AREAS
FROM GETTING SHELLED. ARENS SAID HE IS WORRIED THAT
THE UNITED STATES IS NOT PUTTING ENOUGH PRESSURE ON
GEMAYEL TO KEEP THE MAY 17 AGREEMENT AND WARNED THAT
ABROGATION OF THE AGREEMENT WOULD SET A "BAD
PRECEDENT." END SUMMARY.
3. ON FEBRUARY 13, 1984, CONGRESSMAN WYCHE FOWLER
(D-GEORGIA) HAD A FORTY-FIVE MINUTE MEETING WITH
ISRAELI MINISTER OF DEFENSE MOSHE ARENS; THE DCM AND
POLOFF ACCOMPANIED. THE DISCUSSION FOCUSED PRIMARILY
ON LEBANON (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF BRIEF MENTION OF
THE JLP AND PROPOSED STINGER SALE WHICH ARE REPORTED
SEPARATELY IN REFTEL). DEFENSE MINISTER ARENS
DESCRIBED PRESIDENT GEMAYEL AS THE "LEGITIMATE
PRESIDENT OF LEBANON" BASED ON THE PRESENT CONSTITUTIONAL
SYSTEM, BUT QUESTIONED WHETHER GEMAYEL "CAN BE SAVED."
ARENS MAINTAINED THAT GEMAYEL "HAS DONE A POOR JOB,
LACKED COURAGE TO TAKE DIFFICULT DECISIONS, AND HAS
GOTTEN PUSHED INTO A CORNER FROM WHICH HE IS
UNLIKELY TO GET OUT." HE CRITICIZED U.S. POLICY
TOWARD LEBANON. AND ESPECIALLY AMBASSADOR HABIB,
FOR ALLEGEDLY DISCOURAGING THE LEBANESE GOVERNMENT
FROM COOPERATING WITH ISRAEL AND SEEKING TO PROMOTE
A U.S. ROLE AS A BUFFER BETWEEN ISRAEL AND LEBANON.
HE SAID THAT COORDINATION BETWEEN THE U.S. AND ISRAEL
ON POLICY TOWARD LEBANON IS OF "RECENT VINTAGE AND
CAME LATE IN THE GAME." HE SPECULATED THAT HAD
ISRAEL AND THE U.S. WORKED TOGETHER EARLIER IN
SUPPORT OF GEMAYEL "SOMETHING COULD HAVE BEEN DONE."
4. COMMENTING ON THE CURRENT MILITARY SITUATION IN
LEBANON, ARENS SAID THAT THE LEBANESE GOVERNMENT
HAS NOW LOST HALF OF BEIRUT WITH AS MANY AS HALF
OF THE LAF DESERTING. IF THE LAF CANNOT PUT ITS
ACT TOGETHER, NO ONE. NOT EVEN THE UNITED STATES,
CAN HELP THE LEBANESE GOVERNMENT. THE ISSUE IS
NOT DETERMINED BY THE RELATIVE MILITARY STRENGTH OF THE
TWO SIDES AND THEIR SUPPORTERS BUT BY THE FACT THAT
"THE SYRIANS ARE READY TO PUT A MUCH GREATER SHARE
OF THEIR ASSETS ON THE SCALES" THAN EITHER
THE UNITED STATES OR ISRAEL IS PREPARED TO 00.
ARENS CONCEDED THAT BEIRUT COULD ONCE AGAIN BECOME
A CENTER OF TERRORIST ACTIVITY BUT SAID HE
DOES "NOT SEE ISRAEL TAKING MILITARY ACTION IN
E.O. 12356: DECL: OADR
TAGS: PREL, IS, LE, US, OREP, (FOWLER,W)
SUBJECT: CODEL FOWLER: MEETING WITH MINISTER OF
BEIRUT."
5. AS FOR WHAT MIGHT FOLLOW GEMAYEL'S POSSIBLE
COLLAPSE, ARENS SAID "GEMAYEL MIGHT BECOME A SYRIAN
STOOGE, RADICAL ELEMENTS MIGHT COME TO POWER" OR
VARIOUS MILITIAS MIGHT SHARE POWER. ARENS NOTED
THAT IN ANY CASE, ISRAEL WOULD "STAY IN THOSE AREAS
IN SOUTHERN LEBANON NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN THE
SECURITY OF ISRAEL'S NORTHERN BORDER AREAS" UNTIL SUCH
TIME AS ISRAEL CAN "DEAL WITH A LEBANESE GOVERNMENT
ABLE TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE ARE NO TERRORIST ACTS
CONFIDENTIAL
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90BO137OR000801030034-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90BO137OR000801030034-3
CONFIDENTIAL
84 3386460 SCO PAGE 003 NC 3386460
TOR: 15204OZ FEB 84
6. ON POSSIBLE IDF REDEPLOYMENT IN SOUTHERN LEBANON,
ARENS SAID THAT THE "OPTIMUM LINE FOR REDEPLOYMENT
DEPENDS ON THE DEGREE OF COOPERATION WITH THE
LEBANESE ARMY." THE LINE SHOULD BE "SUFFICIENTLY FAR
(25-27 MILES) FROM THE BORDER SO THAT THE ISRAELI
CIVILIAN POPULATION IS NOT THREATENED BY SHELLING"
AND "SUFFICIENTLY CLOSE SO AS NOT TO PRESENT TOO
GREAT A BURDEN ON RESOURCES." THE "DOMINANT
CONSIDERATION IS CIVILIANS GETTING SHELLED. . .AN
INDEPENDENT, SOVEREIGN COUNTRY CANNOT PERMIT SHELLING
OF ITS CIVILIAN POPULATION WITHOUT RESPONSE."
7. AS FOR THE MAY 17 AGREEMENT, ARENS SAID HE IS
WORRIED THAT THE UNITED STATES IS NOT PUTTING ENOUGH
PRESSURE ON GEMAYEL TO KEEP THE AGREEMENT.
ABROGATION OF THE AGREEMENT WOULD SET A "BAD
PRECEDENT" AND SHOW OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE AREA
THAT THEY CAN MAKE AGREEMENTS WITH ISRAEL, REAP
ADVANTAGES AND THEN "STEP BACK" FROM THEIR
COMMITMENTS.
BEIRUT MINIMIZE CONSIDERED. LEWIS
END OF MESSAGE CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90BO137OR000801030034-3