Page:Ford, Kissinger, Jordanian King Hussein - August 16, 1974(Gerald Ford Library)(1552753).pdf/11

-11-. We want to go ahead looking for oil and we have quantities of oil shale already discovered. With all of this development I think we can be on our own. It is the interim period which is difficult and we need help to carry us over.

As you know, too, we have been working on support from the other Arabs. On the military side we have instructors in the Gulf and an engineer even in Oman. Our friends often refer us to the oil-rich countries for support. But there is not the degree of maturity among them required for the kind of support we need. They in turn refer us back to you for help.

We had an interesting example of this in the last day or so. I have been in close touch with North Yemen. We have just gotten a recent message from them. They had asked us earlier for military instructors, officers and other ranks, to replace the Soviets. They approached the Saudis for financial help in buying new equipment from the Western countries to replace our Soviet equipment. When the Saudis heard that Jordanians were to come as instructors, they suggested that North Yemen instead take Pakistanis. Our friends in North Yemen replied that they had no one who could speak English well enough to understand the Pakistanis. The Saudis then suggested they try Egypt. The Yemeni response was to say they had already had past bitter experience with the Egyptians and that the Egyptians do not know U. S. equipment well enough to help Yemen. They would like to have the Jordanians. We have just received word, however, that as a result of what North Yemen believes is a real threat from South Yemen, they would