I woke up and started reading those reports: the CIA documents from the Camp David period. A few preliminary comments:
1) Still, Western governments are very ginger and restrictive in declassifying documents about the Middle East because many ruling dynasties are still in power.
2) Notice the extent to which there is sympathy and even support (and praise for Hafidh Al-Asad).
3) Don't you like the report that Sadat is secure and seems stable in power? ha ha ha
4) Notice the extent to which Israel and Congress are bothered by the economic boycott of Israel.
5) Notice the section in which Saudi Arabia is upset with the US because it withdrew its forces from Vietnam. They are worried about their own regime. ha ha ha
6) Notice that one report maintained that the identity of the killers of Kamal Jumblat was unknown.
7) Notice that Yasser Arafat early on expressed his acceptance of a deformed mini-state in the West Bank and Gaza.
8) The reports indicate in more than one section that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait fund the operations of Syrian army in Lebanon.
9) There are very few insights in the reports and I was reminded of what Senator Daniel Moynihan once said: that there is nothing in CIA reports that I don't read in the New York Times--the New York Times, for potato's sake. Here is a link to the reports.
1) Still, Western governments are very ginger and restrictive in declassifying documents about the Middle East because many ruling dynasties are still in power.
2) Notice the extent to which there is sympathy and even support (and praise for Hafidh Al-Asad).
3) Don't you like the report that Sadat is secure and seems stable in power? ha ha ha
4) Notice the extent to which Israel and Congress are bothered by the economic boycott of Israel.
5) Notice the section in which Saudi Arabia is upset with the US because it withdrew its forces from Vietnam. They are worried about their own regime. ha ha ha
6) Notice that one report maintained that the identity of the killers of Kamal Jumblat was unknown.
7) Notice that Yasser Arafat early on expressed his acceptance of a deformed mini-state in the West Bank and Gaza.
8) The reports indicate in more than one section that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait fund the operations of Syrian army in Lebanon.
9) There are very few insights in the reports and I was reminded of what Senator Daniel Moynihan once said: that there is nothing in CIA reports that I don't read in the New York Times--the New York Times, for potato's sake. Here is a link to the reports.
