Once Again, AWACS on the Line

But Sadat's death revives the sale in the Senate

Each side claimed that the tragic events in Egypt last week made its case more compelling. Opponents of the Reagan Administration's plan to sell five AWACS surveillance planes to Saudi Arabia argued that the murder of President Sadat illustrated the folly of selling some of America's most advanced weapons technology to potentially unstable Middle Eastern regimes. Proponents answered just as vigorously that Sadat's death underscored America's need to support its few remaining allies in the area. Both arguments swirled in and around the Senate, where the Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to make...