Hafiz Al-Asad of Syria by Charles Patterson

Author:Charles Patterson [Patterson, Charles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Charles Patterson Digital
Published: 2015-02-06T18:30:00+00:00

1956: The Suez Crisis

Politicians, despite their education (or is there so much education common sense is destroyed?) refuse to recognise Newton’s law, “every action provokes a reaction” and like to believe in the mythical “law of no consequences.” The links in the chain were undoubtedly more numerous and less easy to discern, but Western powers supported Taiwan against mainland China (PRC), President Nasser of Egypt with his own socialist views recognised the PRC and made friends with the USSR; in retaliation the UK and the US reneged on their offer to fund the Aswan dam on the Nile, so Egypt nationalised the Suez Canal, the vital link for the UK to Asia. The loss of the Suez Canal was intolerable to the British, and to the French who remembered de Lesseps, and the Israelis also felt threatened. Or that is how it was explained – the other side of the story is that the UK and France intended to occupy the Canal Zone all along.

For a change, the US and the USSR were on the same side, joined by Canada; at the UN the French and British were required to withdraw in ignominy, even Israel did the same, but rather later. The Canal remained in Egyptian hands and in April 1957 traffic flowed through it once more

During the Suez Crisis, after the invasion of the Sinai Peninsula by Israeli troops, and the intervention of British and French troops, martial law was declared in Syria. Later Syrian and Iraqi troops were brought into Jordan to prevent a possible Israeli invasion. Syria was not involved in any direct sense in the Suez Crisis, but the effect of seeing former colonial powers, Britain and France, put in their place by Colonel Nasser, and the help given to him by the USSR must have told, for in November 1956 Syria signed a pact with the Soviet Union, thus providing a foothold for Communist influence within the government, in exchange for planes, tanks, and other military equipment. A delegation from the Syrian government went on tour in the Spring of 1957 to request financial, economic and military assistance from Germany, France, Britain and Washington – they were sent home empty handed. The communist party of Syria gained more control over the Syrian government and the military, and since the military always want the latest “toys,” in August 1957 an aid agreement was signed with the USSR – their weapons for Syria’s wheat. Their weapons would of course be accompanied by their military advisers, and in no time at all, the USSR was into the Mediterranean. They provided the Syrian army with huge numbers of weapons, the air force with two dozen MiG jets and Soviet trainers, and the navy was armed with Soviet ships – everyone got a slice of the cake. The Soviets also offered engineering support for transportation construction, irrigation, hydroelectric stations, and the development of industry.

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