Stinging Rebuff for the Saudis

By William R. Doerner

. Congress has sought more and more to assert itself in foreign policy, once an almost exclusively presidential preserve. Faced with political reality and understanding that Congress was increasingly wary about selling to Saudi Arabia any weapons that could be used against Israel, the Administration last fall chopped down an arms shopping list drawn up by the Saudis and the Pentagon. Out went the purchase of twelve Black Hawk helicopters, "enhancement kits" to upgrade 60 F-15 fighter planes, and about a dozen new F-15s. The Administration did accede, however, to the Saudis' $354 million offer to buy 800 shoulder-fired antiaircraft Stinger missiles, 1,650 air-to- air Sidewinders and 100 antiship Harpoons. The scaled-down deal seemed safe enough, since Congress had approved the sale of all three types of missiles to the desert kingdom in the past.

Last week, however, both the House and the Senate voted overwhelmingly to scuttle the missile sale, handing Reagan the most serious foreign policy rebuff of his presidency. It was the first time Congress had ever voted to block an arms sale that had Executive backing. Moreover, the margins of 73 to 22 in the Senate and 356 to 62 in the House were considerably wider than the two-thirds majority necessary to override a presidential veto. Nonetheless, Reagan immediately vowed that he would not only veto the congressional action but would also twist enough arms to prevent an override and permit the sale to go through.

At issue is not Saudi Arabia's access to weapons, since King Fahd's regime can buy all the arms it wants from other nations. Rather, the problem for Reagan is political. He promised the missiles partly as a token of the special relationship that has existed between Washington and Riyadh since World War II, and partly as a warning to Iran against carrying its gulf war with Iraq any closer to Saudi Arabia. Said the White House: "Congress has endangered our long-standing security ties to Saudi Arabia, called into question the validity of U.S. commitments to its friends and undermined U.S. interests and policy throughout the Middle East."

The vote was all the more remarkable for the lack of strong overt opposition to the missile deal by Washington's powerful pro-Israeli lobby. Even so, many lawmakers were fearful of supporting a measure that might offend Jewish voters in an election year and wanted to punish the Saudis for what legislators view as unfriendly acts, including muted criticism of the U.S. for its bombing raid on Libya. Said California Democrat Alan Cranston, who led the campaign in the Senate against the missile sale: "We should send the Saudis a signal that our friendship entails certain minimal obligations."

Since Reagan's chances of sustaining his veto in the Democratic-controlled House are just about nil, he will concentrate on the Senate, where the G.O.P. holds a 53-to-47 majority. Though Reagan's powers of persuasion are not to be underestimated, some Hill observers put the President's chances of corralling the 34 votes necessary to prevent the Senate from overriding a veto at less than fifty-fifty. Indeed, opponents of U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia were so heartened by last week's vote that they are eyeing a new target: the delivery of five AWACS advanced radar aircraft sold to the Saudis with congressional approval in 1981. That deal was bitterly opposed by Israel and many of its congressional supporters, who fear that the aircraft might be used against Israel. The first of the AWACS is scheduled for delivery to the Saudis next month.

With reporting by Laurence I. Barrett/Washington