For the Record

The Administration’s AWACS victory is all the more stunning considering how little help it got from Saudi Arabia. Not only did Saudis nix any concessions that Administration sought —e.g., joint U.S.-Saudi control—they didn’t even do little things to help sale. If Saudis had sent one representative to the Sadat funeral, at least ten senators would have switched and voted to sell planes. . . . Administration also wasn’t pleased when, a few days before the vote, report appeared in the press that Saudi Arabia had given Syria $5 million to help finance “massive new arms deal” with the USSR. . . . Minority Leader Robert Byrd’s vote against sale surprised the Administration, but not as much as it surprised Majority Leader Howard Baker. Baker expected Byrd’s vote in repayment for Baker’s help in getting Panama Canal treaty passed, but Byrd was thinking of his own re-election in 1982, not looking backward. . . . Least surprising vote was Lowell Weicker’s—no Senate Republican has voted more frequently against Reagan than Weicker. Consequently, White House is hardly distraught that Prescott Bush, brother of George, will probably challenge Weicker in 1982. If Bush looks good in polls, says Baron Report, Weicker is likely to avoid GOP primary and run as independent.

Is it all over for Alexander Haig? Washington rumor mills say Haig will be out by January, with his place taken by Cap Weinberger. Defense vacancy will then be filled by Ed Meese. It sounds improbable, but rumor is widespread. . . . Arrests of Weather Underground should help Administration’s drive to revamp security guidelines. Under old rules, FBI would have had Judith Clark under surveillance ever since she served time ten years ago. Under present guidelines, imposed by Attorney General Edward Levi in 1976, FBI can investigate only those suspected of a crime or who are about to commit a crime. Had Miss Clark been under surveillance she would have led FBI to Kathy Boudin before armored-car holdup in which two cops and a guard were killed. With recent arrests, only two members of Weather Underground still at large: Katherine Ann Power and Silas “Trim” Bissell. . . . All friends of education will be glad to know that former Undergrounder Mark Rudd, the bane of Columbia University, is now teaching school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. . . . Meanwhile, conservative students at Harvard no longer have to see crimson. Harvard now has a conservative paper of its own, The Salient, launched by Harvard-Radcliffe Conservative Club. “Our primary purpose,” said club president Christopher S. Forman, “is to provide a bit of balance to the political discussion at Harvard.” Shailo, Daily Telegraph Rothco

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The Administration’s AWACS victory is all the more stunning considering how little help it got from Saudi Arabia. Not only did Saudis nix any concessions that Administration sought —e.g., joint U.S.-Saudi control—they didn’t even do little things to help sale. If Saudis had sent one representative to the Sadat funeral, at least ten senators would have switched and voted to sell planes. . . . Administration also wasn’t pleased when, a few days before the vote, report appeared in the press that Saudi Arabia had given Syria $5 million to help finance “massive new arms deal” with the USSR. . . . Minority Leader Robert Byrd’s vote against sale surprised the Administration, but not as much as it surprised Majority Leader Howard Baker. Baker expected Byrd’s vote in repayment for Baker’s help in getting Panama Canal treaty passed, but Byrd was thinking of his own re-election in 1982, not looking backward. . . . Least surprising vote was Lowell Weicker’s—no Senate Republican has voted more frequently against Reagan than Weicker. Consequently, White House is hardly distraught that Prescott Bush, brother of George, will probably challenge Weicker in 1982. If Bush looks good in polls, says Baron Report, Weicker is likely to avoid GOP primary and run as independent.

Is it all over for Alexander Haig? Washington rumor mills say Haig will be out by January, with his place taken by Cap Weinberger. Defense vacancy will then be filled by Ed Meese. It sounds improbable, but rumor is widespread. . . . Arrests of Weather Underground should help Administration’s drive to revamp security guidelines. Under old rules, FBI would have had Judith Clark under surveillance ever since she served time ten years ago. Under present guidelines, imposed by Attorney General Edward Levi in 1976, FBI can investigate only those suspected of a crime or who are about to commit a crime. Had Miss Clark been under surveillance she would have led FBI to Kathy Boudin before armored-car holdup in which two cops and a guard were killed. With recent arrests, only two members of Weather Underground still at large: Katherine Ann Power and Silas “Trim” Bissell. . . . All friends of education will be glad to know that former Undergrounder Mark Rudd, the bane of Columbia University, is now teaching school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. . . . Meanwhile, conservative students at Harvard no longer have to see crimson. Harvard now has a conservative paper of its own, The Salient, launched by Harvard-Radcliffe Conservative Club. “Our primary purpose,” said club president Christopher S. Forman, “is to provide a bit of balance to the political discussion at Harvard.” Shailo, Daily Telegraph Rothco