(Washington Post) The U.S. gave serious consideration to sending airborne troops to seize oil fields in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi during the 1973 Arab oil embargo, according to a top-secret British intelligence memorandum released Wednesday. The British document - one of hundreds released by Britain's National Archives in an annual disclosure of government papers that are 30 years old - assesses as unworkable such options as replacement of Arab rulers with "more amenable" leaders or assembling a show of force. Instead, it describes an airborne military operation as the most feasible alternative, although "a move of last resort."
2004-06-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive