American Notes WASHINGTON

As Attorney General Edwin Meese told it last week, just "ten words" are the source of the "cascade of misinformation, false headlines, half-truths, innuendo and misunderstanding" about whether he ignored an associate's proposal to bribe Israeli officials. The words, he said, are part of a long document sent to him in 1985 by his former California attorney, E. Robert Wallach, concerning a proposed Iraqi oil pipeline. In a statement to the press, Meese declared that he cannot recall having read the words at the time. But they do not, he said, mention any "bribes or payoffs" to guarantee that Israel would not attack the pipeline.

What are the ten suspicious words? Meese could not say because the Wallach memo has been classified by Independent Counsel James McKay at the request of the State Department. While an interagency committee considers whether to make the memo public, the Los Angeles Times reported that the words convey a suggestion that campaign contributions might be presented to Israel's Labor Party. But the party's leaders have denied ever getting a contribution aimed at buying a promise that Israel would not sabotage the proposed pipeline.