tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5881063035564375834.post2418404863407640243..comments2023-05-08T05:47:01.048-07:00Comments on Writer of Wrongs: Be Careful What You Wish ForE. Scott Menterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03728804527795190789noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5881063035564375834.post-20352426883034567212011-02-02T11:47:30.424-08:002011-02-02T11:47:30.424-08:00We're unlikely to agree on Nasser's intent...We're unlikely to agree on Nasser's intentions towards Israel in the 50s, I imagine. But I do appreciate your comments and I thank you for reading <a href="http://blog.writerofwrongs.net" rel="nofollow">Writer of Wrongs</a> and for your participation. Thanks!E. Scott Menterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03728804527795190789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5881063035564375834.post-47040390486636111682011-02-02T09:10:04.018-08:002011-02-02T09:10:04.018-08:00Not the main points, perhaps, but I wasn't loo...Not the main points, perhaps, but I wasn't looking to make a point-for-point refutal. What I took exception to was that you implied Egypt came out of one revolution, the early-fifties revolution, with a view towards harming Israel, with the implication it would do so again.<br /><br />We both agree Nasser did well from the Suez Crisis, but you imply his actions were determined by antipathy towards Israel, when they were largely directed at Britain. We even have Nasser's manifesto, the six principles on which he mounted his coup against Farouk, foremost being 'the liquidation of colonialism and the Egyptian traitors who supported it', and none of them reflecting antagonism towards Israel.Pez Dispens3rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03721070351899981998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5881063035564375834.post-11999638964860966052011-02-02T08:49:19.838-08:002011-02-02T08:49:19.838-08:00That helps me understand where you're coming f...That helps me understand where you're coming from, thank you.<br /><br />While I generally disagree with your analysis of the cause and repercussions of the 1956 conflict, I'm not sure it bears directly on the main points I was making. We're already seeing unrest and political reaction in Jordan, and Mubarak is now moving against his own people by sending in hired thugs to suppress the demonstrations. The Muslim Brotherhood has thrown its support behind El Baradei, who is weak and lacks a constituency of his own, and therefore can be easily controlled or even unseated.<br /><br />One hopes that the protesters, many of whom are legitimately interested in freedom--even perhaps democracy--will not at the end of the day find they've jumped from the frying pan of dictatorship into the fire of an Iranian-style totalitarian theocracy.<br /><br />Thank you for your observations and comments.E. Scott Menterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03728804527795190789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5881063035564375834.post-30228283118229967142011-02-01T18:47:09.359-08:002011-02-01T18:47:09.359-08:00I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be unclear---I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be unclear---I was referring to events of 1956.<br /><br />You stated that Nasser provoked the Suez Crisis which is to characterize it, especially when you mention it within the context of Egyptian-Israeli relations. The commandeering of the canal was not borne of antipathy towards Israel but was an act of sovereignty, and it was not predicted that Israel would use the opportunity to invade in a ham-fisted conspiracy with France and Britain.<br /><br />My point regarding Israeli antagonism towards Egypt is less ingenious because it relies on the reading that it was not until the fifties that Egypt existed as a sovereign nation. That is, for the first time in modern history the country was being run by Egyptians without relying on the consent of the British or the Ottomans. Israel's aggression at this junction wasn't as justifiable as it might have been before the regime change. And that Nasser came out on top from the Crisis, despite losing militarily, was precisely because the international community recognized the illegitimacy of Israel's conduct.Pez Dispens3rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03721070351899981998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5881063035564375834.post-4075990101720787032011-02-01T10:32:56.873-08:002011-02-01T10:32:56.873-08:00Thank you for your comment.
Unfortunately, I thin...Thank you for your comment.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I think you are misled as to the events leading up to the 1967 war (or perhaps you are referring to 1956, which I did not characterize at all one way or another). I strongly recommend Michael Oren's <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FSix-Days-War-Making-Modern%2Fdp%2F0195151747&ei=y05ITcaJCY72swP4jrTPAg&usg=AFQjCNEny8IO0Ilz3UkGJgT_H3mPhNAP0Q&sig2=3E_5U7TDt50LuETw4rUu-Q" rel="nofollow">Six Days of War</a> to you as a resource.<br /><br />There are several levels between the cold peace we "enjoy" today and outright warfare. The most likely outcome of the current crisis is a government that would move Egypt in the wrong direction along that spectrum, as I have illustrated. If Jordan were also to fall, we would again have a situation in which Israel is surrounded by antagonists on all sides—a situation in which the odds of Arab military success may be re-examined.<br /><br />As for your evaluation of who was first antagonistic towards whom, suffice it to say that, again, I believe that history doesn't support your conclusion.<br /><br />Thanks again for your comment.E. Scott Menterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03728804527795190789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5881063035564375834.post-75576591815275033902011-02-01T05:50:33.394-08:002011-02-01T05:50:33.394-08:00You're painting the Suez Crisis very unfairly-...You're painting the Suez Crisis very unfairly---Nasser's commandeering of the canal was an act of self-determination which did nothing to upset Western commercial interests, and it was the act of conspiracy between Britain and France that generated the crisis (and it was such an unjustifiable act it upset US-British relations for twenty-five years). And you're obfuscating the point that it was Israel who were originally militarily antagonistic towards Egypt, an event which certainly colours later engagements.<br /><br />What is most probable is that even the most anti-Israeli government that could emerge from this period of uncertainty would restrain itself to rhetoric rather than action, the former being rather less costly than the latter, and that we are far more likely to find a government more occupied with internal matters than a campaign against Israel that would undoubtedly end in failure.Pez Dispens3rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03721070351899981998noreply@blogger.com