i ' TELCON Schlesinger HAK October 9 1973 5 35 p m S Henry if possible I think it would be a good idea to have a meeting tonight K That has turned out to be very impractical but the President would like to go ahead with option one He would like to go ahead with options one plus 5 and 4 S We must round up pilots These F-4s fly out of St Louis with Air Force markings They have a tanker escourt with them so it will be obvious that U S aircraft is being delivered to Israel I did not know this morning that these would have USAF markings K Can you work out something else S They have to have a tanker along K Can you stage them through Europe 5 No because they are unsympathetic K You had better think that over overnight 5 The real problem is on tanks K The President is anxious to move the tanks If it is our calculated judgment that they do not need them he has advised me to propose replacements but to deliver them so that they arrive after the fighting has stopped but he doesn't want you to tell them he just wants you to work it out But he is doing that on the basis they don't need them on the current fighting 5 You have to go to option 5 K We should do option 1 starting immediately I should inform Dinitz Then if you could get the planning started on the tanks in case its an immediate need in case they have to be sent 5 They are desperate to get anti-tank weapons and we need to fly them out of Texarkana and it is bound to draw more attention One thing that would be desirable would be to have someone in the White Houst get men on a group like the Flying Tigers to offer assistance I DECL SSIFIED Authority AI tNl_o l - -- Feel free to give them anti-tank weapons etc ECM On the tankers and air supplies you should get them ready on a firm foundationcould be Try to get some help from the flying tigers Right I'll talk to Dinitz and give you a call back in an hour or so $5 1 Authority glib 32 3 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu