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Washington Report, July 26, 1982, Page 6 Facts For Your Files: A Chronology of U.S.-Middle East Relations June 25: Alexander Haig Jr. resigned as U.S. Secretary of State. Some Reagan Administration officials said that Mr. Haig's disagreements with the President over Middle East policies were a major cause of his departure. June 26: The U.S. voted alone in opposing a French-sponsored United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a limited withdrawal of Israeli troops surrounding Beirut, and the establishment of a U.N. contingency force to "supervise" a ceasefire in and around Beirut called for by the resolution. June 26: The U.S. voted against a non-binding resolution of the United Nations General Assembly demanding an immediate Israeli withdrawal of all its forces from Lebanon. Israel was the only other country voting against the resolution, while 127 countries approved it. June 30: President Reagan said at a news conference that the U.S. was not "warned or notified" in advance by Israel of its June 6 invasion of Lebanon. The President added that he gave Prime Minister Begin "no green light whatsoever" for Israel's troops to invade West Beirut. July 4: Following an Israeli blockade of essential services for West Beirut, the U.S. voted in favor of a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for "the restoration of the normal supply of vital facilities, such as water, electricity, food and medical provisions, particularly in Beirut." The resolution was passed unanimously. July 6: President Reagan said he had "agreed in principle to contribute a small contingent" of about 1,000 U.S. troops as part of a temporary multinational peacekeeping force in Beirut, should such a force be requested by the Lebanese government. July 6: White House spokesman Larry Speakes told reporters that a U.S. supplied peacekeeping force in Lebanon, should one be established, would assist in the peaceful evacuation of PLO forces from Beirut and in "the restoration of control by the Lebanese Government throughout the country." July 8: U.S. Department of Defense spokesman Henry Catto Jr. said the Reagan Administration was "a long way away from a decision" on whether to send U.S. troops into Lebanon, and that there was still "doubt that it can be arranged." July 8: Despite a warning to President Reagan from Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev against placing U.S. troops in Lebanon, State Department spokesman Dean Fischer said the Administration was not going to reconsider its offer to supply American soldiers to a multinational peacekeeping force in Beirut. July 11: U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger said on an American television program that if U.S. troops are deployed in Lebanon they would serve only "for the very limited purpose" of insuring the safe withdrawal of PLO forces from Lebanon—not to help restore a Lebanese government, as previously stated by some Administration officials. July 12: George Q. Lumsden. formerly Deputy Country Director of Arabian Peninsula Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, was sworn in as US Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates July 12: The U.S. voted in favor of a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the 22-month-old fighting between Iran and Iraq and the withdrawal of both armies to "internationally recognized boundaries." July 13: U.S. Secretary of State-Designate George P. Shultz told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing for his confirmation that "the crisis in Lebanon makes painfully and totally clear a central reality of the Middle East: the legitimate needs and problems of the Palestinian people must be addressed and resolved "urgently and in all their dimensions." July 13: President Reagan told a bipartisan group of 15 Congressional leaders that if U.S. troops are dispatched to Beirut it would be for "a very short action, a matter of a few days... not more than 30." July 14: A statement issued from the White House said the U.S. would continue its policy of neutrality towards the Iran-Iraq war. It also said the U.S. government was prepared to consult with "friendly states" in the Gulf region "on appropriate steps to support their security." July 14: President Reagan committed an additional $30 million in humanitarian relief for Lebanon, bringing to $65 million the total amount he has requested. July 15: Acting U.S. Secretary of State Walter Stoessel Jr. sent Congressional leaders a letter which said that a "substantial violation by Israel" of U.S. arms export control laws "may have occurred" in Lebanon. July 16: At a White House ceremony, George P. Shultz was sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State, following his unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate the previous day. July 16: Officials at a U.S. Department of State briefing said that the U.S. was willing to send American forces to the Gulf region should they be asked by Saudi Arabia or other Gulf countries to participate in joint military maneuvers. July 16: The U.S. received Israel's formal reply on its use of American-made cluster bombs in Lebanon. Israel denied that its use of the bombs violated an agreement with the U.S. July 17: Secretary of State George Shultz held long talks at the State Department with the Ambassadors from Egypt and Israel and others in an effort to develop a new, long-range policy for the Middle East. July 19: President Reagan suspended a shipment of 4,000 cluster type artillery shells to Israel until a review is completed by the Administration to determine whether Israel used cluster bombs in Lebanon in violation of U.S. laws and agreements. July 19: In a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal called on the U.S. to deal directly with the PLO and to endorse Palestinian self-determination. July 20: President Reagan met at the White House with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and Syria's Foreign Minister Abdal Halim Khaddam in an effort to end the stalemate in Beirut. A major topic was finding a temporary haven for the Palestinian fighters trapped there.
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