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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (361820)	12/7/2007 9:19:36 PM
From: TopCat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576634

"not anyone who could do us a world of hurt" What do you consider a "world of hurt?"

To: tejek who wrote (361820)	12/8/2007 5:42:59 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Respond to of 1576634

Re: Ahmadinejad, the Iranian Nasser. Nasser, just like Ahmadinejad, was vilified and demonized by Western colonialists --he was branded "Hitler on the Nile" by British PM Anthony Eden and French PM Guy Mollet.... Somehow, the current Iranian crisis is a rehash of the 1956 Suez crisis. Suez Crisis: Key players The Suez Crisis began on 26 July 1956 when Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal. The move was in response to a decision by the United States and Britain to withdraw finance for the Aswan High Dam - a massive project to bring water to the Nile valley and electricity to develop Egypt's industry - because of Egypt's political and military ties to the Soviet Union. GAMAL ABDEL NASSER, EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT Gamal Abdel Nasser, a military man, was elected president of Egypt in 1956 after serving as Egypt's prime minister for two years. Previously, he had been the leader of the Free Officers Organisation - a group of soldiers who seized power in Egypt by toppling the British-backed monarchy and turning the country into a republic. It soon became clear that Colonel Nasser had broader goals than simple control in Egypt. He strove to put himself on top of the Arab nationalist movement that was gaining pace throughout the Arab world. During his first years in office, he played Western and Soviet powers off against each other to gain concessions for his country. In October 1955, Nasser signed a major arms deal with Czechoslovakia that threatened Israel's military superiority. Soviet strategy changes Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had also agreed to provide Nasser with more arms, marking a shift in Soviet policy. Stalin had never been interested in providing nationalists who were not Communists with arms. In his memoirs, Khrushchev says that at first, Nasser came across as a bourgeois Latin-American style dictator. The Czech arms deal angered the West and by way of punishment, Britain and the US withdrew an offer of financial aid to finance the building of the Aswan High Dam. The Egyptian president retaliated by taking control of the Suez Canal zone - the crucial shipping lane linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea - away from the British and French companies which owned it. Apart from finding an alternative way to fund the dam project, Nasser was keen to assert Egyptian independence. At the same time, as part of his ongoing struggle with Israel, Egyptian forces had blocked the Straits of Tiran, the narrow waterway that is Israel's only outlet to the Red Sea. The Suez move was popular both at home and throughout the Arab world. An electrifying speaker, Nasser was already admired by Arab nationalists. He had fought in the 1948 war with Israel and had demanded that the British leave bases and troops stationed in the Canal Zone. The Suez Crisis helped elevate him to hero status in the Arab world. Although Nasser was not banning freedom of passage through the canal - except for Israeli ships or foreign ships bound for Israel - he knew his move would provoke a strong reaction from the West. He was undeterred. Today, when many Arabs feel humiliated by Israel and the American superpower, there is a certain nostalgia for Nasserism. But to his critics, Nasser led the Arabs down a cul-de-sac by aligning Egypt with the Soviet Union. After the Suez crisis, the Soviets eagerly rushed in to provide the aid for the Aswan Dam that Egypt needed. Relying on Soviet aid, he built up a monolithic state-run economy - which his successors have ever since been struggling to demolish. [...] news.bbc.co.uk