Word: nasser
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Then, after a week of abuse against the Western nations as "imperialist masters" of Israel-and particularly against the U.S., which Nasser called "the main enemy" for its support of Israel-it called once more on the U.S. and Brit ain to "use their influence on Israel to make it stop its provocations...
...exits through which they could escape with honor. The plain fact was that, as Arab and Jew squared off for battle in the hazy heat of a khamsin desert wind, no one wanted the battle to start. From the beginning, the crisis had been the product of massive miscalculations. Nasser, who has repeatedly and publicly warned that the Arabs are not yet strong enough to take on Israel, made the first mistake by signing a mutual defense pact with his fellow leftists in Syria. His intention was to brake the schemes of the Damascus regime to precipitate war with Israel...
...Nasser still had one out: the presence on his border with Israel of a small United Nations peace-keeping force-which he had often in the past used as an excuse for not acting. With Israel threatening to invade Syria, he could hardly use that excuse again, so he made what could have been a good double play. To display his courage to his Arab brethren, he went through the motion of requesting the U.N. force to withdraw, expecting to meet considerable opposition...
...order the U.N. troops pulled out -without even consulting the Security Council or the seven nations that contribute to the peace-keeping force. With that action, which was met with incredulity and dismay in Western capitals, Thant and the U.N. just about forfeited any effective peace-keeping role. Nasser himself may have been surprised, but Thant's move left him no choice; he had to move in or seriously lose face...
...controlled radio stations in Cairo and Damascus never once let up on their nightly diatribes against such moderate Arab leaders as Jordan's King Hussein ("the Hashemite harlot") and Saudi Arabia's King Feisal ("the bearded bigot"). In a speech to his men on the Sinai front, Nasser himself spent as much time raging against the two Kings ("traitors who plot against us in the name of our religion") as he did condemning Israel...