81. Letter From Secretary of State Rogers to Secretary of Defense Laird1 2
Dear Mel:
Thank you for your letter of December 2, 1971 recommending that we permit the Spanish firm (CASA) to sell five F–5’s to Libya.
I recognize the need of maintaining our considerable interests in Libya. For that reason I have declined to shut the door completely on sales of major military equipment to Libya. However, I also do not believe it possible at this time to permit the Spanish to transfer F–5’s to the Libyans for the following reasons:
Political reasons predominate. There have been no signs of any Libyan moderation in Middle Eastern affairs. On the contrary, Qadhafi still espouses armed conflict as the only means of settling Arab-Israeli problems; his behavior still remains erratic as shown by the December 7 nationalization of BP Petroleum; Libyan funds support the Fedayeen and there are now confirmed reports of the arrival in Syria of Libyan commandos to support the Fedayeen; only a few months ago the Libyans supported the coup in Morocco and still are causing difficulties for the Government of Chad and Eritrea. The F–5’s, whether from the US or Spain, will be clearly identified as American aircraft and will be so regarded by Libya’s neighbors, including Arab governments friendly toward the United States. I believe the political sensitivity of this sale is not diminished by the fact that deliveries would be of [Page 2] the F–5B trainer version, especially since the Libyans have told us they want these aircraft to train pilots to fly Mirage jets from France. All interested parties would know that US Government approval is required for sale of the F–5s from Spain to Libya. I do not believe we can or should appear to be enhancing Libyan combat capability by facilitating the Libyan transition to Mirages.
There are legal aspects as well. In January, Congress passed an amendment to the Foreign Military Sales Act (Section 9) providing that consent to a third country transfer of defense articles should not be given unless the U.S. itself would transfer the defense article under consideration to that country. For policy reasons, we are not prepared to permit Northrop to provide F–5’s to Libya at this time. Thus we are constrained under Section 9 from allowing the Spanish firm to do so.
I recognize the problems for Ambassador Palmer in continuing to tell the Libyans that this sale remains under review. However, having carefully considered the alternatives, including your suggestion, I believe we should continue to hold to the line. We will review this position, of course, should any major developments in the area or in our bilateral relations with Libya justify doing so.
I regret that I could not be more forthcoming to your recommendation.
With warm personal regards,
Sincerely,