Nasser by Saïd K. Aburish
Author:Saïd K. Aburish
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
7
Search for an Honorable Exit
Gamal Abdel Nasser, astute, instinctive, and with a rare natural ability to sense and judge his surroundings, was probably the only one among the Egyptian and Arab leadership who saw the 1958–60 period as the beginning of the end of his Arab nationalism. He became convinced that unity among the Arab states was not possible. What led him to this dramatic conclusion escaped the diarists of the period, people such as Heikal, Sadat, Boghdadi, Khalid Mohieddine, Hammroush, and others. Lack of intelligence and intellect exempted Nasser’s trustees and close associates Saraj and Amer. Nobody expected them to show any understanding. Perhaps Dr. Mahmoud Fawzi and Zakkaria Mohieddine, both able men who became prime ministers later, shared Nasser’s inner fears, but neither ever articulated them. Both were the silent, loyal types.
It was not a case of a mad dictator realizing and acting on the consequences later, but of a brilliant though soft manipulator of men and mover of masses having to confront an insoluble problem. What failed him, what drove him to this conclusion, was the sudden, devastating awareness that what he depended on most, the loyalty of the people, wasn’t worth a great deal. Certainly, it wasn’t enough to provide him with the backing he needed to pursue his quest. The awareness of failure showed in the ungentlemanly shrillness and street Arab name-calling with which he attacked Kassem. He no longer occupied the high ground; after confusing the educated Arabs, he addressed himself to the lowest common denominator, the uneducated Arab who revered him and did not know any better. And it was this type of follower who failed Nasser, leading him to his conclusion.
Nasser’s attacks on the Soviet Union were prompted by the Soviets’ friendship with Kassem. His bold accusation that they wanted to control the Middle East, at a time when he was heavily dependent on them for arms and financial aid, was another indication that the gambler in him had taken over. Pressure always exposed the worst in him, and in this case the pressure came from within. It dealt with the death of his grand dream, and he could not share it with anyone. Reports of meetings show him less than patient with old colleagues, unavailable to them and uncharacteristically dismissive of their opinions. The amity which had characterized the relationship between him and his original comrades had gone. The crackdowns against Muslim fundamentalists and Communists were harsher than in the past, and the numbers of people he imprisoned at a time ran into the hundreds. These weren’t the actions of a leader not knowing what was happening, but the behavior of someone unable to control his inner anger or share his predicament with others.
And Nasser was groping for a way out, constantly trying to develop a governmental system that would ease his burden, allow him to work fewer than eighteen hours a day. Miraculously, the one area which did not suffer his decline into a lesser man was his home life. He was still the loving father and husband who flourished when with his family.
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