Word: sadat
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...Sadat's importance to the U.S. can hardly be overstated. First and foremost, of course, he was the one Arab leader who had the imagination and courage to make peace with Israel. Beyond that, he had transformed Egypt, the most populous Arab nation, from a Soviet client to a steadfast U.S. friend. Under Sadat, Egypt played many pro-American roles besides rapprochement with Israel: it was a buffer and counterweight to the pro-Soviet and pro-terrorist Libyan regime of Muammar Gaddafi to the west; guardian of the Sudan to the south; defender of the Suez Canal; indispensable base...
Moreover, all these roles rested not on written agreements but on personal understandings between Sadat and the American Presidents and diplomats with whom he dealt. Says one senior American military officer: "Geography guaranteed Egypt a central role in any Mideast military equation, but it was Sadat who made Egypt the linchpin of our strategy." Adds former Under Secretary of State Joseph Sisco: "Personality is more important to diplomacy in the Middle East than in any other part of the world. The question of personal trust often looms larger than economic, political and strategic conditions...
Some greater cohesion in foreign policymaking may now be possible. Secretary of State Haig appears to have survived the bureaucratic wars and re-emerged as the leading voice of U.S. policy. After Sadat's death, he successfully insisted that there be no formal Administration comment until he could deliver it himself. He did so at a press conference where he spoke with a self-confidence and authority only sporadically present before...
...abrupt loss of an influential friend like Sadat in an all-important region of the world would be a severe blow for any Administration. In Reagan's Washington, it opens a time of testing for a foreign policy apparatus that is still in the formative stage. -By George J. Church. Reported by Laurence I. Barrett and Gregory H. Wierzynski/'Washington
...Sadat's death revives the sale in the Senate