258. Letter From the Secretary of Defense (Wilson) to the Secretary of State1
Dear Mr. Secretary: In your letter of January 9, 1957,2 you requested two decisions from this department with regard to quid pro quo to be offered to Saudi Arabia for the five-year extension of the Dhahran Airfield Agreement.
After further discussion of this matter here, I believe that we should not, in view of the status of our other base arrangements in that area, offer the Saudi Government substantially more than $35 million from all sources over a five-year period, including the ICA funds mentioned in your letter. This is based on our view that such a figure would not be substantially greater than that currently being given to Libya on an annual basis for retention of our rights in that country, which are considerably more favorable than any the Saudi Government has thus far offered.
In view of the fact that the bulk of the quid pro quo offered will take the form of an augmented training program for the Saudi Arabian forces, the $30 million estimated cost should be provided from appropriate sources.
The details of the training program, which have been under discussion between representatives of our two departments, are being worked out on a priority basis and will be forwarded to you under separate cover.
Sincerely,
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 711.56386A/1–2957. Top Secret.↩
- See footnote 6, Document 254.↩