Question. Mr. Secretary, considering the difficulty of this phase of the Middle East negotiations, and now looking back at the reaction to your remarks, do you think it was a mistake to leave open the possibility of American military intervention in the Middle East oil fields in the gravest of emergencies?
Answer. Well, I think what I said and the way it was interpreted were not always identical. I believe that what I said was true and it was necessary. It is irrelevant to the issues which we now confront. And I have repeatedly stated that the United States will deal with the issues of energy on the basis of a dialogue with the producers and with an attitude of conciliation and cooperation.
The contingency to which I referred, as I pointed out previously, could arise
only if warfare were originated against the United States. And I don't foresee
this.
Source: U.S., Congress, Committee on International Relations, Special Subcommittee on Investigations, Oil Fields as Military Objectives: A Feasibility Study, Report Prepared by the Congressional Research Service, 94th Cong., 1st sess., August 21, 1975, (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1975), p. 80.
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