Middle East and USSR
Sir: It is high time that both the Zacninations of the Russians in the t,.(1511e-East and their cynical use of 'Lente was exposed. Therefore, may I ?.19hgratulate both Morris Gershlick for
admirable letter in your issue of 'tether 26 and your periodical for Publishing it.
r,„„Whz at is apparent from Mr Gershlick's of the marshalling of Soviet :c,es in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea t'h`nat they present a grave and perilous s,ret to the oil-producing states of Arabia and the Persian Gulf. It Would seem to me, therefore, that it is
clearly in the best interests of those states for a strong and viable Israel to exist bearing in mind that only the Israelis are preventing a sweep southwards by the full might of the Soviet Union (and its Arab allies, Egypt and Iraq, who, because of their past actions, can be suspect of casting covetous eyes on their fellow Arabs' oil).
Only last week, for example, King Faisal stated that he feared any collapse of Italy would bring the menace of Communism that much closer home (which is why he has thought in terms of supplying financial aid to the Italians) yet he appears to be doing everything in his power to weaken the one state in the Middle-East at present preventing the complete Soviet control of the area, namely Israel. It all sounds a bit barmy, and 1 would respectfully suggest to the leaders of the Trucial States and Saudi-Arabia that the real enemy is the Soviet Union (and those supporting her) not Israel.
One other point. It would also be useful to mention, as an indication of the Soviet ambition to frustrate our oil-supplies at whatever cost, that it was the Kremlin which strongly urged the Arab world to resort to the oil-weapon after failing to beat Israel during last October's Yom Kippur War.
Victor H. Sharpe 10 Camwood Close, Basingstoke, Hants.
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