Word: nasser
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Great Document. Humphrey's high point was a three-hour conference with Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Humphrey soon discovered that Nasser knew very little about Eisenhower. He had, he said, read Crusade in Europe. Asked Humphrey: "Have you read President Eisenhower's second inaugural address?" When Nasser replied "No," Humphrey sent round to the U.S. Embassy for a copy, advised Nasser to read "one of the greatest documents for peace ever written." Said Humphrey: "Eisenhower seeks to dominate no one, and it appears to me that anyone who really wants peace in the world...
Humphrey noted that as Nasser talked about his own country he seemed "happy and positive." But when he spoke of the international scene, he became bitter, cynical and critical. "If you would concentrate your talents and energies on the political and economic development of Egypt," advised Humphrey, "you would be making a real contribution to the world, but your fishing in international waters will lead to nothing but trouble. Why dabble in great international matters when you have so many economic troubles at home that need your attention?" Nasser smiled and shrugged away the question...
Remarkable Restraint. One point of current diplomacy that impressed Humphrey: when Nasser spoke of Israel, he seemed remarkably restrained. Possibly he was feeling his way toward some face-saving way of settling the problems of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba. Humphrey's final reassurance on behalf of the U.S.: "We don't want a grain of sand from your deserts, a stone from your pyramids, or a drop of water from your canal. We don't even want your gratitude. All we want is peace...
Syria may not be to blame for everything troublesome in the Middle East these days, but it tries to help when it can. Nasser's only devoted ally in the Arab world, and Communist-infiltrated to a degree that Egypt is not, Syria is finding itself unpopular on every one of its borders. The Syrians dislike the Turks to the north only a little less than they hate the Israelis on the south. They quarrel bitterly with the pro-Western Iraqis on their east. And last week, after Syria had glumly withdrawn its 4,000 troops from Jordan...
...already unmasked a rival as an "American agent," and the rival was desperately taking ads in the papers to protest his 100% Egyptianism. Another was laying siege to coffeehouse customers with a tape-recorded tune: "With freedom elect him. Elect Moussa Sabri." To make sure the fun was harmless, Nasser instituted a new legal provision last week: any speaker who criticizes any public official must furnish the authorities with documentary proof of his charges within five days of making them...