Conversation: 850-008
Prev: 850-007 Next: 850-009Start Date: 6-Feb-1973 11:34 AM
End Date: 6-Feb-1973 12:38 PM
Participants:
Nixon, Richard M. (President); ibn Talal, Hussein (King); White House operator; Ziegler, Ronald L.; Kissinger, Henry A.; Rifai, Zaid al-;Recording Device: Oval Office
NARA Description:
On February 6, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon, King Hussein ibn Talal, White House operator, Ronald L. Ziegler, Henry A. Kissinger, and Zaid al-Rifai met in the Oval Office of the White House from 11:34 am to 12:38 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 850-008 of the White House Tapes.
Nixon Library Finding Aid:
Conversation No. 850-8
Date: February 6, 1973
Time: 11:34 am - 12:38 pm
Location: Oval Office
The President met with [Hussein, King of Jordan] Hussein ibn Talal; the White House
photographer, members of the press and Ronald L. Ziegler were present at the beginning of the
meeting.
-13-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-09)
Conversation No. 850-8 (cont’d)
Greetings
Seating arrangements
[Photograph session]
-Number of sets
Subjects for discussion
-Middle East settlement
-US-Jordan relations
-Military aid
-Richard M. Helms
Henry A. Kissinger and Zaid al-Rifai entered at an unknown time after 11:34 am.
Introductions
Message
-Timing
Middle East
-Hussein’s view
-US-Jordan relations
-US economic and military aid
-President’s meeting with Golda Meir
-President’s meeting with Edward R. G. Heath
-People’s Republic of China [PRC]
-Soviet Union
-Vietnam
-Solutions
Kissinger’s schedule
-Possible conversation with Hussein
-Meeting with the President
-Forthcoming trip to Hanoi
-14-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-09)
Conversation No. 850-8 (cont’d)
-Possible meeting with Hussein or al-Rifai
-Forthcoming meeting with Meir
-Al-Rifai’s schedule [?]
Middle East
-US leadership
-Peace and understanding
-US-Jordan relations
-Hussein’s previous meeting with the President
-Israel
-Egypt
-Expulsion of Soviet advisers
-Anwar el-Sadat
-Possible military action
*********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[National security]
[Duration: 44 s ]
EGYPT
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
**********************************************************************
Middle East
-Egypt
-Partial compared to total settlement
*********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
[National security]
[Duration: 31 s ]
-15-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-09)
Conversation No. 850-8 (cont’d)
EGYPT
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 2
**********************************************************************
Middle East
-Syria-Israel relations
-Hostilities
-Compared to pre-1967 war situation
-Gamal Abdel Nasser
*********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
[National security]
[Duration: 15 s ]
SYRIA-ISRAEL RELATIONS
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 3
**********************************************************************
Middle East
-Jordan’s relations with Syria
-Borders
-Airspace
-Damascus
-Jordan’s relations with Egypt
-Talks
-Sadat
-Syria
-Exchange of letters
-Normalize relations
-16-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-09)
Conversation No. 850-8 (cont’d)
-Fedayeen
-Hostilities
-Unified command of armed forces
-Soviet Union’s policy
-Egypt
-Suez Canal
-1967 war
-United Nations [UN]
-Security Council Resoltuion 242
-Resolution 242
-Soviet Jew’s emigration to Israel
-Effect
-Iraq
-Iran
-Threat
-Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan
-Syria
-Military assistance
*********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
[National security]
[Duration: 2 s ]
SYRIA
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 4
**********************************************************************
-Iraq
-Tanks
-Syria’s 1970 incursion into Jordan
-Syria and Iraq
-Mediterranean Sea
-17-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-09)
Conversation No. 850-8 (cont’d)
-Persian Gulf
-Egypt
-Iraq
-Intelligence
-Mustafa Barzani
-US aid
-Iran
-Jordan-Israel relations
-Occupied territories
-West and East banks
-Avoidance of hostilities
-Settlement agreement
-Israel troop withdrawal
-Western Valley of Jordan River
-Jerusalem
-Arabs
-Christians
-Muslims
-Political status
-Dual sovereignty
-Security
-Compared to Kissinger’s previous meetings
-Duration
-B-52’s [?]
-Persian Gulf
-Oman
-Artillery
-Advisers
-Training
-Jordan Arab Army [JAA]
-Sultan Qabus
-Abu Dhabi
-[Shah of Iran] Mohammed Reza Pahlaui
-Sheikh Zaid
-Saudi Arabia
-Territorial dispute
-18-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-09)
Conversation No. 850-8 (cont’d)
-Embassies
-Sana
-Yemen Arab Republic
-US involvement
-Communism, Arab extremism
-Jordan’s role
-Financial support
-Communism, Arab extremism
-Iraq
-Fedayeen
-Lebanon and Syria
-Jordan’s economy
-Syria
-Border
-Agriculture
-Weather losses
-International conference
-3 year Development Plan
-Investment
-Budget
-US aid
-Deficits
-Recurring expenses
-US aid
-Khartoum subsidies
-Kuwait
-Egypt
-Syria
-Meeting in Cairo, Egypt
-Arab ministers
-Jordan’s military
-Modernization
-Deliveries
-Enlargement
-Firepower
-Mobility
-19-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-09)
Conversation No. 850-8 (cont’d)
-Syria and Iraq
-Threat
-Soviet Union
-Advanced weaponry
-Imbalance
-“Soviet threat”
-Iraq compared to Syria
-Soviet advisers
-Compared to Egypt
-Jordan’s northern border
-Jordan-Israel relations
-Negotiations
-Possible settlement
Memoranda
-Distribution
-Kissinger, President
-Helms
Middle East
-Analysis
-Syria and Iraq
-Soviet threat
-US-Jordan relations
Independence
-1970 crisis
-Aid
-Increase
-Problems
-US budget
-Jordan’s military
-Modernization
-Current operating expenses
-Kuwait and Saudi Arabia aid
-Gulf
-20-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-09)
Conversation No. 850-8 (cont’d)
Middle East
-US-Jordan relations
-Aid
-Jordan’s budget deficit
-Timing
-Army and civil service salaries
*********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
[National security]
[Duration: 35 s ]
MIDDLE EAST
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 5
**********************************************************************
Middle East
-US-Jordan relations
-Aid
-Necessity
-Sympathy
-US budget problems
-Negotiations
-Amount
-Grant aid for operating expenses
-Support for development projects
-Hussein’s previous visit to the US
-Hussein’s request
-Resolution
*********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
-21-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-09)
Conversation No. 850-8 (cont’d)
[National security]
[Duration: 24 s ]
MIDDLE EAST
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 6
**********************************************************************
Kissinger’s schedule
-Return to Washington, DC
-California
Middle East
-US-Jordan relations
-Aid
-Military
-Operating costs
-Army and civilian government budgeting
-Dinais
-Deficit
-Grant aid
-Civilian government aid
-President’s recent meeting with Congressional leaders
-Negotiations
-Strategies
-Compared to Vietnam
-Egypt-Israel settlement first
-Jordan-Israel settlement second
-Egypt and Jordan-Israel settlement
-Egypt-Israel settlement first
-Presidential Information
-Jordan-Israel settlement first
-Break deadlock
-Public compared to private channels
-Fear of failure of public negotiations
-22-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-09)
Conversation No. 850-8 (cont’d)
-Sadat
-Compared to Vietnam negotiations
-Kissinger’s orle
-Propaganda
-B-52s
-Meir’s role in negotiations
-Tactics
-Compared to substance
-Jerusalem
-Borders
-Hussein’s view
-Private talks with Israel
-Chances of progress
-Sadat
*********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
[National security]
[Duration: 7 s ]
MIDDLE EAST
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 7
**********************************************************************
-Flexibility with strategies
-Private
-Jordan-Israel settlement
-Egypt-Israel settlement
-Timing
-Objections
-Upcoming Israeli elections
-US elections
-Jordan-Israel negotiations
-23-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-09)
Conversation No. 850-8 (cont’d)
-Private channels
-Egypt-Israel settlement
-Complexity
-Jordan’s flexibility
*********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
[National security]
[Duration: 51 s ]
EGYPT
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 8
**********************************************************************
Middle East
-Negotiations
-Jordan’s intransigence
-Compared to Egypt, Israel [?]
-Time
-Sadat
-War of attrition
*********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 9
[National security]
[Duration: 2 m 54 s ]
EGYPT AND SAUDI ARABIA
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 9
*********************************************************************
-24-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-09)
Conversation No. 850-8 (cont’d)
Middle East
-US-Jordan relations
-President’s previous meetings with Hussein
-New York
-Survival of Jordan and Hussein
-Character
-Helpfulness
-Meir
-Negotiations
-US role
-Egypt
-The President’s visit in 1963
-Nasser
-Aswan Dam
-Power
-Irrigation
-Effect downstream
-Silt
-Fertilizer
-Nile River
-Compared to Mississippi River delta
-Size and number of dams
-Soviet Union
-Scale of projects
-US-Jordan relations
-Helms
-Ambassador to Iran
-Travel
-Gulf States
-Hussein’s interests
*********************************************************************
BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 10
[National security]
[Duration: 1 m 8 s ]
-25-
NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Tape Subject Log
(rev. Sep.-09)
Conversation No. 850-8 (cont’d)
MIDDLE EAST
END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 10
**********************************************************************
Kissinger’s schedule
-Kissinger’s possible conversation with Rifai
-Timing
-Kissinger’s forthcoming trip to Hanoi
-Dinner
-Kissinger’s forthcoming meeting with President
-Executive Office Building [EOB]
Middle East
-US-Jordan relations
-State Department [?]
-Private talks
-Public failure
-Private initiatives
Kissinger’s schedule
-Meeting with President
The President, Hussein, Kissinger and Rifai left at 12:38 pm.