Office of the Historian

80. Memorandum From Robert W. Komer of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)1

Washington, July 28, 1964.

Mac—

Tuesday Lunch Items.

[Here follows discussion of Cyprus.]

[Page 186]

Jordan Arms. We seem to be heading for a McNamara/Rusk clash. Brigadier Khammash2 is here for an answer this week. He’s told us that either US must sell a squadron of F–104s and a lot of ground force equipment (to be paid for with United Arab Command fund) or Jordan will have to buy from the Soviets.

DOD is inclined to bow with the wind and offer F–5As, contingent on the other Arabs actually making the money available to Jordan (which most of us doubt). State is willing to show some give on ground force items, but balks at planes: (1) It would be economic insanity for Jordan to take on a heavy new arms burden—even if the other Arabs paid for the hardware, maintenance alone would be a heavy additional burden on a Jordanian economy already subsidized to tune of $45 million this year by us; (2) if it gets out we’re offering planes to Jordan, Israelis may come in with a big pre-election plea for arms too; (3) in any case, these arms are for announced purpose of backing Arab scheme to divert Jordan headwaters—can we be in position of selling arms to support an action we oppose?

Sloan says he’ll take issue to McNamara. Rusk personally opposed to selling planes. But issue hasn’t ripened to point where LBJ should decide it. Instead he should say that he’ll make final decision and wants opposing argument put to him. This is a genuinely tough decision, and best course probably is to show some give on ground force stuff but stall on planes, telling Hussein we have deep reservations so will check our bet till we see whether he can get ironclad Arab guarantees of all the dough involved. But we shouldn’t give him a flat turndown now (note our Ambassador’s appeal in Amman 55 attached).3

FYI, Nasser is sending a letter to LBJ; our hunch is it may refer to arms limitations. At any rate, it will give us a peg for a lot of things I’ve been wanting to say to Gamal about Libya, Cyprus, Yemen, Jordan, etc.

RWK
  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Name File, Komer Memos, Vol. I. Secret.↩
  2. Brigadier Amer Khammash, Director of Operations and Chief of Purchases, Jordan Arab Army, was in Washington on an arms purchasing mission. Documentation on his discussions is in the National Archives and Records Administration,RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, DEF 12–5 JORDAN, and DEF 19–3 US–JORDAN, and Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OASD/ISA Files: FRC 68 A 306, 333 Jordan.↩
  3. Komer added this sentence by hand. Reference is to telegram 55 from Amman, July 27. (National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, DEF 12–5 JORDAN)↩