SPEDCH by PR,DSIDENI, ANWAR EL SADA'T to the Forees of the Third Army
Suez, March 24, ]rg76 In the name of Allah, Brothers and sons, members political of th.'e Third F,ield leaders at the gorru"*"rt""1, Army, and ,u", . .. I really felt great happiness ^trr" when I saw from thc airport today, on my w&y to here, *o"r.J Svery going of reconst"#r"" progres- on in two new districts, in_addition to the xi"e"""i"ar one which i;.:t:;.:i"".*::^t'*i"r"l": district. rt was a ffill way ,"i"'';fito you,::":"-::-:'.i::"1;;d'"'ih""'J#ll"'".,Ii""iand to seethat hu;-d-";.d.;-d;r"*J "il:r"r:: ffii,:ffiXJithis,thoush ?X:i: i::,: I,i; . : wasrea,ry happy tosee r knowquite we' ,n", ,r[li T#,:"fJKn::: inst[-igl"-::u,T:::::1{i.Israer rli.n""u orsuez in thebatue waslarger even than ,n", #i"l,iJffr#;nrJjll: a;r';;;:l,ji.;:"freconstruction, ;,,u, thateverythins to the-'1"^.:::n,j.;; return of the "r";;;"';;J?:t# J il; ;"'underway,rs underway, instructions;l,fi:.i".illin this :i^:T.ri'J""".,""*--.1 ,:.:::i because poiltrcal ilfuy d1*;;,tT"T*{",:ii"$,i'iit;Tj,,H,*::,,"",;#like that of the High decisions, verv o"-, i"t""in.i'" quickrv,because they cannot ;#:#"r"HJi::T"li;
30? particular case, we can never delay the implementation of our deci' *ioor, because it is a matter that greatly affects the people of suez who endured, and are still endurilg, & great deal of the bit' terrress of emigration, and the pains of disruption and defeat. The barbarity of the enemy against the city of suez had, in fact' reachecl the maximum, as a result more than 50%, ot 90% of. the L eity was destroYed. t., ghosts come back 0 I was really happy today to see the city of f hit, in re' to life when I came to visit suez the day zayettia was d taliation to our nava! forees' destruction to Eilath in October ! 1.96?,it was a city of ghosts, and it retnained so for more than 7 o years until Iife ran in its veins once again after the 19?3 battle. qj I thank Ggd for my sons, the combatants of the Third Field Army c f, ... you'camrot imagine my happiness as I was insneltinf,,thg tff guns Israeli Headquarters facing suez, surrounded by the machine d[ which attacked and destroyed Suez and hit zayettia . .. The Is' ne raelis never believed it possible for us to reach this position' I.J their very Headquarter, hidden by the re&r mountain, out of reach of the artillery, where no planes could affect it ' " They be thought, as said in the Koran, that their fortifications would their barriers . .. Then, my sons' the soldiers of the Third Army pounced upon it and forced the Israelis to flee with only theii They .tott "*, they left the Headquarters exactly as they were; left the maPs and everYthing else'
We should always remember this, and I am saying it Egypt, the entire Arab nation, and' the world to hear ' " I " You, my dear really happy you have taken your revenge ' 1 soldiers of the Third Army, have avenged Suez and refuted ailegation about ttre invincible rsraeli soldier . .. Their con ers fled with only their clothes, leaving the Hea{quarters lvith all the maps and even the machine-guns with which
308 previousryhit suez' our sons seized and destroyed gunsso that they these machine- wourd never threaten nor be or Egypt again. used against suez
My ,utmost thanks. go to my sons, combatants Army' for of the Third a' the heroic deeds tt"v-"ou""geously ruost performed, fore- among which was the canrit oferation, this immortar of str.ggre ' " r recalr regend now trrat wiire r was fo'owing from the operation-room the bat'e on october 6, the news of the fortified posts of the downfall of the Bar Lev une and *re raising of the Eglptiari frag in si"ri s,rcce"";tt;ching t,'e us up to the moment of breach; some peopre in cairo thought we had Iost ind many of those the batue, r'vho were li"i;g'-;; tranquility collapsed antr comfort in -&iro in contrast to what was happening in the bat tield: they collapsed and e_ -,,",;ffi;lost tfrei" ne ffiess.T:i-"':::*"::-:,'sll'i"*i';"#;"#'*T"H;Hd"?LI and .ou"u"" # # :T"r#'i_AT":*$:, j:- stood ;rrTtrrtsing fast andstrongly resisted th.ei#::*:jr:,,:enemy attacks ^11_" for-u"",, more su*ender th;;-d';;r, ;"#,fi*:: until the rsraeris*er" fo"ced tlpir to carry their defeat shoulders and take off. Today I congratulate you, members of the Third seconddisengagement Army, for agreemunt wtriet, the 22nd was funy executed of Iast F'ebruary, *.ra iiu passes. Israelis pulled out behind For the first time I declare io *y people, the Arabs pg; ;; J oisective, gave,11.,:i"j:to theXlrl^}:l General :". theinstructions commanau",*u.* ti;ill ffiTffi"l; fffir,,ffit1:",l:tt futfilled i"."ro disensagementagree- for us theIff"T:_l-n", major objective li;-J";ffill hours-d""ii"s,^ ;flff; rictoryH;l ff;:r.:r^longin october r"d in whichwe achiev- 1ezg,... d,r"r;;;;#ffi H.l""ffi,v; the first cliseng;agementagreement an'a the rand we regained.
309 Here, I would like to state that at one time two divisions of the Third Army were in the east, and at the time of the breach the Jews came and occupiecla position behind them.. Ttre rest of the Thirti Army were also confronting the Israelis . .. As I told you, scme people, then, lost their nerves and collapsed, and un' fortunately, spite had eaten up the hearts of some who tried, as clid Israel, to make something out of this theatrical move. But reality rvas much bigger than that . .. when we were preparing for tiie first disengagement agreement, and planning on the very lald our forces had alreacly regained, I said that I was satisfied rvith what we obtained, because it was quite obvious that everyone was conspiring against our victory . .. When we were planning for the agreement, I found the two divisions of General Badawi, rvhich some people claimed to be absolutely paralyzed, and against which the sick-minded Kazzafy had directed stabs in the back, just as he had done against the Arab nation; I found they had acquired more land than what he had obtained in the october ha,ttle. I am saying all this for the Arab-r'yorld and for Egypt to hea4, I am really very glad to meet you today dear sons, now after all these plays are over . .. Notl.ring but right wins. with the second of disengagement agreement #e have fulfilled all the objectives and the 19?3 battle. . we expelled the Jews behind the passes, the this was the plan; it was the objective which I defined to General commander in the fighting order which I signed on Tues' I recall this as I meet you today, dear sons ' ' I remember when Suez was a city of ghosts, and I remember 1967' and thd paini we had never sunendered despite all the dimensions of the ful bitter defeat of 196? . .. Four months had only elapsed, on October 2L, Lg67 our courageous navy was launching for 310 of rch battre, ,of therirst rocket l#i{:i"!'";,tffi%TrJ, *i,Tavarsincethat rrerJic nanrely, old d;;;r:"i,lili.-]t.teet, Eilath.. Ever un- -;rrir. vonse-quentlY, *;;"s:L'*fj* as f-r";igilffixil:lfuflliif.,lii::df; . the :;i 3ut q'i1 ing *",r,'ppll;Tfl;"Ti#il :ffi';xtr rs:JT5llf after the painful 3ry ffi:: and bit;;; ied )ne andthe grorious the;*r,t"y:":ll [h3."",'ff ii:"f:"",t,- Ti*, battre ing rsraetisr"tu" *ru-;'ffii"....i1fl0*t on a sa-turday"}'n " -carneto call <<54d-g"yu'o*v". which wi, -uio'ul."t our that raeli{:* Spccial For day, lnd colum_n_i,i",otwa" aov",,il bhe reachKiro io.--*, ;:e",:r#llJH:fT*ir; ley this I recall now cer , tell. ,,OU my sons wl am J vou trrat ns;pi, ;#"J"'T"x:' "^l sitting with you,and P4: ,:ffiiTJ,"":"3if:d"ffi,i,:*#,i::T all tfev were in ' the i*."J,"3: indomit"bt" i;;;;i;il:" Jews had thought nd "of I tut,lnui htr drovefflTylffi:"i::l'J"ttilfthem ana broughi iT,.i-,*:.'"dt#'::"::"$tanks, and our i tr'u in"-"" sotdiers lhe a""i"o#""fi':fl}:''1"1T to ",tirio'u#t andarr bs- ;";Jue At this verv n i #:ffi.""I"|]"^:l',,ou" themartyr.s divisions:1;"*;^1"# "rO1"",r'"s, the or of the Armed "*"""i"i", martyrs of alt the land"' r i{i the hail them as we achieve;ffi sake-ofthe home- June b, lg7< '#";H'ili:^- the.rhird Dn(:r*vards*:,11".;;;'i*:J,::t Armyarter ,.. Nowthe first aff:;::fr ;:HilLIl ;:::: 311 Weshallalwaysremainindebtedtoyou'dejarso'ns'your:peo' always remain indebted to pie and the entire Arab nation will as the sixth power in the you for the position it occupies today viorld. purely Egyptian Your performance and pl'annirig were was glor. *u* *og,,ificent, and your fighting Ycur performance in for our battle' and this was' ious . .. Nobocly had planned to expell the soviet experts faet, tf-e reason uehind my decision The Egyptian Armed For' from Eg1ryt orr" Vu* before the battle: Armed Forces put their plan into ces laid down the plan '" The qnd unprecedented manner fully effect in the *o"i *"snificerrt These same friends '84 by "ff- t ?'i"ttdts foes alike ' " aeknowledged you how i great esteem "' I cannot tell and foes now Uold you in my UJad white negotiating with-!1'-Kissin9ut', --- high I held was helcl and higher as' he I felt so proud *Ji rt"ra my figher the Israelis about ESYPtian Plan' conveying to me- the feelings of Egyptian commander' the Egyp- ning, their apprehensio"" of the perfornltttcg:- tiarl soldier, and the Egyptia'n and the entire Arab nation For all this, the people of Egypt in Syria fully realise gwe you their lives,.r . PeSh-aP^s-ou1-brothers also f*" [iq! hactbgen'aecOmnlisf3d were that the magnitic#l gtve up all valiant performance' ' Perhaps!l:{ drreto their 'yi" ' ' ' Every pa"t; i""du""i"'' and trivial outbiddings these limited grudges' theirs ' ' We do not bear victory we achiev"ed is also working method on u"a *" do not base our against anyone' won planned' fought' succeeded and grudges ... That is why we battle to fulfil the are "o fo"g""-' in need of another . .. Now, we battle' it When the US entered the rest of our oti"ctives " 372 slood in the way of. fulfilling our objeetive, because I declarid that I wss not ready to sacrifice you, my Armed Forces, nor my people,geonfrontation with America ... r was not ready to fight the USA . .. ' However, with your magnificent performance, a[ the objec- tivesof the battle were fulfilled; the second disengagemenragree- mentwas concluded,and the rsraelis withdrew behind the passes. filis was, in fact, the major objective of the batfle . ,: we did not needto launch any more batiles . .. we reopened the suez canal on the banks of which the rsraelis sat, one day, in the waters of whichthey swam, claiming to be ownersin it. . Then, with your will, my sons, your weapons,and yourpower, you reopenedthe 0analas an expression of your victory and the triumph of your wil. , I was extremely happy to see the process of reconstruction going on in Suez.Do not forget, my-a sons, nor should Egypt forget in particutar, has paid very high price, the highest p.rce9, !o.1: in the canal. Zone . .. rt offered very high sacrifices, and ir large part $g. of its inhabitants still evacuat"eduntit ,;u*-:.. [.brall this we owe them a great deal . .. we must make up for all Spir sufferings in the past period. we must ensure their'well-be- 19,stability and safety . .. As I told you, I was extremely happy o find reconstruction progressing so fast in these two iew dis- and to see thousands of the inhabitants of Suez in its again, when, once, it had become a city of ghosts. suez had endured and suffered a great deal for all of us. fought the battle of .Egypt on the d.V of the break through, r the ceasefire . .. A magnificent cohesion reigned among people,the Armed Forces urra trr" police I{'orces at all levels. . fought an immortal batile, the result of which is that the of Suezis now recordedin the annals of history . .,Such 313 heroism will always remain a symbol of Egypt, the performane€ of Egypt- and the spirit of Egypt . .. On that day, only a small The part of the population of Suez were performing services, since Il&IIlr the rest had been evacuated; those who remained joined the peop Armed Forces and the Police l-orees, and courageously fought bann the ba.tile of suez in october 1973. One of the most splendid epics ofE of national and popular struggle in which the people become one estee rvith their Armect and Police Forces, with every man on this good latior earth, to defend its precious soil . .. The people of Suez have done Unite more than their duty, and in the most magnificent manner. Today turne it is our turn to perform our duty towards them, and we shall do the w so, God willing my instructions in this respect are very clear and also a defini+e . .. My instructions with regard to the free zone are also world history, my sons, \ile are not just very clear. At this stage of our your . celebrating this occasion, nor have I just come to congratulate you few y for orre of the results of your work, namely, the second disengage' imbec; ment a.greement, and the withdrawal of the Israelis behind the H passes. I did not come to congtatulate you for all this, because it Was was all of your own doing, the fruits of your work, performance' P strong fighting, planning and command . .. Reopening the Suez Canal the uJ{ was another result on the 5th of last June, the whole world celebrat' qllow c ed this occasion with us, so that the memory of June 5, 196?, may be obliterated forever, for we have now transformed it into a bright and shining occasion. The whole world joined in the celebrations of reopening the suez canal, thus turning this evil day into a day cf the victories of our Armed Forces in Egyptian history, as well as in Ara,b historY. Mrtreover, we are now undergoing another major transformation in our life . .. We are heading towards fuII democracy ' " A com' plete democratic set up with no turning back; as a matter of fact f,nd as iu" ur" taking this step in realisation of the objectives of the Iniy'tc, July 23 and the MaY 15 revolutions. Sta86n 314 You have recenfly heard me speaking in the people,s Assembly. The July 23 and May 1b Revorutions have done their duty. rn your name,and in the name of all the people, I handed the trust to the people,to who'm it originaily berongs. I handed it over with our bannershoisted high in the poritical sptrere. The worrd,s opinion of Egvpt has ehanged . .. The whole world holds Egypt in high esteemnow, and is attracted to it after a period of interrupted re_ lations, even with our Arab brothers, with Western Europe, the united states and many other states. Today our relations had re- turned to normal so that Egypt may oecupy its rightful place in the world of today, not onl;r as the heart of the Arab nation, brrt alsoas one of the powers to be taken into account in the today,s world scales' we have regained our position, thank God, thanks to your performance and to the patience of our people over the last few years. I am doing my utmost for countr), whilst facing the imbecilitiesof some others. However, my faith, tha'k Gocl, had never been sha.ken,and it yvasproved . .. I had faith that the broad base of our people is strongand sound, integrated, pergistent, patient and confident in the ultimate victory. A base that will never yield to any doubts or rllow disruption and defeatism to prevail therein. Today we are going : back Lo normalty. We handed the trust i8tact to the people. The last thing to be clarified in our relations withthe world, was our treaty with the soviet Union. rt was impera- tive, -qoI handed the trust, to present a report to the people on the reality of these rerations. Then, r reft the whole matter to the Assembly to fieople's take its decision. The decision was taken in tlis respect.we do not want to antagonise anyone. As r said before, md as we began with the July 23 Revolution, and ended with the May15 Revolution, we befriend those who are friendry with us and mtag.nist' those who are our enemies. r really fert very sorry for 315 'dhe '. the state redched by our irelatibris witfr Soviet Union .. For three full years after the 1967 defeat, that is from fgO? to'19?0, I used to receive the Soviet Ambassador every Monday, and we lvould analyse matters and endeavour to develop the best possible relaiions between the 2 countries. Mv four visits to the Soviet Union in les's than'a year after u.*.t*ing power as a President, my defence of the Sovigt Union before the Peopleis Assembly ih X''ebrugry.L972, and.all this is written in its minutes, we recall an attempt on my part, to cover the Soviet tlnion's attitude because we did not want to antagonise anyone. Until this very moment I was tetling officials who were working with me that I welcome those who want to cobperate, and those who do not can withdraw calmly because I would never accept any split at this stage. All we want is to preserve our dignity and independent free will for which we waged the battle and fought. During the past period, especially after the ceasefire, and until today f was subjected to violent pressure from the Soviet Union and some other axes they are endeavouring to create in the Arab world. Military pressure of not supplying me with the spare parts I need, or replacing the weapons we lost and which I offerd to buy.. However, the development of the Armed Forces is going on because we do not accept to stay as we are and lie behind. Never. We have crossed this fence once and for all. We tlestroyetl it a long time ago by obliterating the wall of defeatism. By tearing the Israeli myth to pieces we also wiped out all restric' tions on our movement . .. Such military pressure is imposed on us so that in one or one and half years the weapons we possess rvoulcl beeome scrap iron for lack of the necessary spare parts. It is a cat and mouse game as I told you . '. I am also subjected to economic pressure. The Soviet Union refuses to re-schedule our debts. Not only does it refuse to re' 316 scheduleour clebts, but it also does no^t merciaragreement want to conclude a com- *'il a""pit. L. faet factoriesfrom 3" that we bought all there. until trris monrent our been the 1g?6 ug"uu*;r, signed, though.*" ,rrurrty""*U..a" has not ment; we asked _iS, "iir";ar a,gree- for it, but to n" ,r"'. sureswilr not d;.;".,;rTrai,"*u affect our drive i" ;;y n"u*_ Godthat way whatsoever. r today we maintai' uurarrcJi'relations thank all come to Erypt,lo*: with alr, and they .. Everybody fully realises ledgesEgypt's position and acknow_ in the e""ii"tion in generar, axeawe are living in, in particular. and in the Frorn the militarv noinr nr .,i^--- --. descril,tion,;; ;"l J""j": I have reft it :trlJ#":"|.fi"JT,T:iln to others to talk "0"r, Tffil you tt insteacl. Economically, see and re&rise' we are as going through an acute a! present ' " economic crisis However, during a" i".t tries, tour of some Arab we were.able t-9 .sotveco'n- 1.each "; ;;;ent that will eeonomicproblems piled help the up *in.u-ig6Z. . We a fund' with agreed to establish the participatio" "f ;;;;ab brothers and our all over the world' in order friends to .t""igii"n up our economy, asain' l" ""v"""1 and not nrTri::::tened' oo" r"." any other *isis at -pran. ,,God wilring, this People's yri ; ;ffi;: ;, il."ffi*HJr""1l* i Assembrywhich, i" itr-;;;,**itt * ,n-:l "ub-it it lo trre peopre may know the whole t;th;;"rt ,. our econom5r. What I want to stress is that we are handing Jitaryand the potritical, mi. economicgtl 0.":i;; ;";*"ple back wirh honour,we are ,handirig to them what is theirs. when I was talking about the question of platforms in the 317 back to its People's:Assembly, I statecl that I handed the trust' I also stressed orvners, militarily, politically and economically ' ' vanguard of the the role of the Armed Forces who were at the Revolution broke out ' " The Armed lreople the day the July 23 fence of pro- Forces are, once again resuming their role as the legitimacy tectiorl of the homeland, and protector of constitutional per'for'm . . As long as the Constitution exists, the Armed Forces In the application of their military duty only, and nothing else ' " in through the wid- democracy we are saying to our people, < 318 admit, nrv sons, its that we have been able to achieve red victory, and you have tlemonstrated most magnificent lhe military performance in ;he mode.' history . .. Militarily, we have been aUte to make Egypt red a centrr: that carries weight in today's world, a centre that ro- ing taken into is be- account by big po*""" in making rcy tr,"i" .ui.iri#;-. 'rm Economicaty, as r told you, we have been able to achieve a great deal, but my sons' a mountain of of hatred stilr stand in our way' one which aims at introducing rid- enmity, envy and spite among the pe.ple and between eat social classis, a blind and just bitter vindictive- ness: as we succeededin f ulf'ling the all these feats, we must arso ritl our country compretely from ity' thiJ spite so that it w'r arrvays remainas it is now, ielf , the state of institutions. The sovereignty..of- the law brings equality between small' ' They big and ire a* t,'e same . Th; executive hat forming authority is per- its duty at this stage of the ally re-building of our society.. . The legislativeauthority, as you have osi- seen in the past stage, is assum_ ing its duties though with some bion excess. Neverthele"I,'it i" u""y easyto straighten up our drive )on- occasionally. ves, The judiciary h:: recovered its dignity ancl sanctity, and every :ecy manin Egypt has his judge.. . we clJsed a' the detention camps the fiveyears ago, and they wilinever be re_opened God Armed , willing . .. The and f,'orces have regained their position in their courrt"y on,r ;, to in the entire Arab nation. The tessons detruced from your bat'es, To- my sons' will be taught for tens of years to come in all the mjli_ last, tary academiesin Europe, :\merica, Asia and Africa. , ... we had performed and are stilr performing our duties in a magnificentmanner . .. If any errors are eommitted by the press, hich ive must straighten them up, not by abolishing the pre'ss' freedom of the love but by doing away with the reasons which led to this ex- nust g€ss...If anything happens, we must behave as one family, and 319 solve it among ourserves president . .. Tlie of the Republic reprc. sents the head of the family, the brother and,fathei of ail, anit he is also the arbiter among all . .. The rest of the institutions are pe'forming their constitutionar role . .. Here, r must crarify i, a certain point. some people think that such talk aims at doing away with or affecting the Arab SociaJist Union . .. No . .. The Arab socialist union has performed its role in the best possible manner ' " I am decraring this very roudly . .. Let us put aside all kinds of spite and enmity.. r shau never forget ttrat wrren.t was in Borg Ell Arab in August 1g?J, two I months before the bat. J tie, r gathered a[ the A.S.u. secretaries and instru.t"a ti"* t, t prepare themselves because we were about to enter a batile ... U N' one objected' then, to what r said . .. The people have, sustaingd a, magnrficent rore during the batue . .. The Arab socialist union played its role in all the crises we,\vere exposed to.. But today we have transcended this stage to a more opea practice, for, undoubtedly, the ASU was the major characteristic of the one party system. p tl The theory of the alliance is one thing, and the one organisa. di tion is another ... The alliance is indisputable with no return ... It is the alliance of workers, farmers, soldiers, intellectuals, n&. tional capital and national ,,r€ unity.. , There is no ".t;;;- in-f**r, it, and it is an indisputable :th fact that 50% of its ,u"t. """-io" and workers . .. :.Pl The alliance exists, but it is the theory of practice that changes . .. What ,'Fll happens today is a development to demo. erctic practice after - ctr it was characterised by the trend "r lrru-oi, organisation or the ,r& one party. No, I strall not aecept this, . I previouslv said in thr the october working paper that r "h"tt nuuo approve the one party nor the multi_party system . .. lile ,i;uH not make a leap directy into the dark, straight to parties, let us first embark on the idea of platforms . .. W. strouta not jump 32A repne- into the dark . .. perhaps ll, aqd we need not three parties, but two or four " ' Parties and political tutions organisations are not formed by any- one's decision, but as a result clarify of the practice of democracy. As a result of the historical doing stage any peopre pass through, politicar orgarrisations .. The emerge from within it, and express tlhe people,s ossible objectives at this stage and the following ones. aBidg we are broad-minded and our hearts are open to everything vhen.I "we do not attack anybocry, but rvelcome the friendship of a'.. ie ba! However, we shall always maintain our principle of befriending em to those n'ho befriend us, and being inimical to those who :le ... us. antagonise tained However, it is a different Union case in our Arab world . .. We do not enter a batile even rvith those who antagonise us. our Ar"ab brothers know perfecily rvell how dear they ane to us.. open They also fully realise the true position of the Egyptian peo_ eristic ple, Egypt's performance and the magnificent rore it played througho't history.. No theatrical acts, j no bruffing, no outbid- anisa- dings or scenes will ever affeet it . .. rn ... Hence our answer to our Arab 8, n&- brothers . .. We categorically reject our classification into reaetionar{es :, anf, and prqgressive, for, this has onry led to the disruption rmers oJ our Arab countries. These words with which the iactiee soviet union is st'l crassifying- th" A"ub*, wedo not accept . .. we are Arabs, and rlemo- we reject the soviet {Jnion,s classification as being reactionary arrd p"oig*es"ir"-... e one W" arc Arabs only, and this word 321 I succeededin making one family out of the Arabs, as I made one family out of Egypt; a family which was able to launch a unique battle in the history o fmodern war. . When you foughb the enemy, my deer sons, and demonstrated your splendid performance your Arab nation entered the battle behind you with the orl weapon.. For the first time you surprised the West and the Western civilisa- tion with your performance; and they found themselves threatened by the will of one man; and this one man was us, all the Arabs ... 14reshall never give up this solidarity. The Soviet Union is still endeavouring to create axes in the Arab nation . .. But never in our Arab nation. We are Arabs. We stood as one hand in time of diffieulty. They stood by our side and supported us. On Ramadan 5, before the battle, I convened the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces . .. I met the eommanders of al! the branches of the Armed Forces for sii hours during which ,J they explained the plan in detail.. . ri Each one knew what the function of the other was . .. 0n a Ramadan 7 I signed the battle order. On Ramadan 4 I had a long 4 meeting with the National Security Council. I listened to what dl they had to say, and at the end I told them that Egyptrs economy had reached rock bottom, which meant that I did not have funds to cover rny commitments for the next two months the end of the year, not even for such basic needs as bread. I had no fear. and took the decision for the battle. All our brothers rose to help us. I am deeply grateful to all of them cept one sick man, namely, El Kazzafy . .. No one can blame because he is so bitter. ' I In our Arab nation we reject classification of states or ing axes by any power outside or even inside the Arab region ; The axis the Soviet Union is attempting to create these days, about which Brezhnev talked in his speech, is categorically 322 ed by us' we reject the poricy of axes, not only from the soviet Union, but also from any Arab country that intends to embark upon the policy of axes. we are now occupying our position as the sixth power in the world' and anyone who will deviate from this, shall be excluded from this field. we sha' arl remain up, onry those rvho deviate shall gi'r down. The Arab nation will never again be conquered or relinquish its position . .. The majority of Arab countries, about 99% ot them, are wise and only -under7/o ," sick and outbidders. The soviet Llnion is founding axes the pretext that it is firmly backingthe Arab cause; big words . .. well, if the soviet union is talking about its firm and sorid attitude and the Arab cause, is there an Arab cause in Syria while Egypt does not have one ? Everyone knows that Egypt is the balance of the bat'e in the area whether the soviet union wishes or not, whether the u.s. and Israel wish it or not . .. The barance i" nsvptli";i and not anywhereelse and ; we categorically reject tfre pJlicy of axes. I told your brothers in the second Army about the 19b6 bat_ tle' when we discovered that it was a conspiracy, Gamal Abdel Nasserimmediately sent to syr-ia and Jordan telling them 'ot to enterthe bat'e. He prevented them from "trt""irrg ti"'f"uttr", urra our Armed Forces alone f_acecl the tripartite conspiracy hatc'ed. by : Ed.en, France : 'fought Guy '\{ollet anrl Israel : Ben Gurion. Vv,e the batile, and came lut oi-it poriti.rrry victorious . .. How- we prevented syria i:ver: and Jordan from tai 323 severed whatever the reasons. We restored our relations with Jor- dan but did not teli King Hussein about the Battle.. we launched the batile on october 6 and King Hussein who had known nothing about it was astounded by the magnificent performance. He was also surprised a few days later when syria asked him to enter the battle and attack from his front . .. He sent to ask me what to do . .. The Syrians wanted him to attack from the depths, from tlre River Jordan. . King Hussein sent to me complaining of this attitude, and he was very logicat . .. we did not inform him ot our plan, nor dici we prepare him for anything, and he did not have an air-rlefence ready . .. I agreed with Jordan and told King Hus' sein that in my estimation, their position would make it eas;r,for the Israelis to hit them, and even to enter Amman at once. Thus, I saved them from syria's outbidding and ntaneuvre. Today, King I{ussein and President Assad have a pact. . well, that is very good because we, as military men and politicians, are fully aware that the ,Iordanian front and the syrian front are, in fact, one. But what we object to is that such a step should be at the expense of some' one else, the Palestinians for instance as matters are and as others rvill find out in future. Today, King Hrnsein is follovring the Syrian Baath Party"We have nothing to do with this, and it will not affect us in any way vrhatsoever, nor change anything in the Arab region' I shall tell you an incident which has something to do with you.. When the gap operation happened, I rvas aware it was r T.V. batue. Even ttre Slrategic Studies Institutes in France snd England stated that it was a theatrical battle in order to face..So,whenithappened.Isaid:< 324 , Jor- mssage r tord him to choose rched whoever he liked from _ for r know amongst the thing #T:lTrffista:rce of his old troubtewith them_ was noonewou,d;;T:?r:,l.#",1ilr",::.:TJ*i,T11,:Tr:3, r the tion'because r di.!,not at to *"rir" ini,"i*J. t"t'r1* eu"r wantedwas from havea t;".;; the gap:"*i i;r"j"#:l;rsrael r*.*e dayor t2 this a,rdref t our used,,,il:H1?:;j"#:ffi,,9.#"ti*:"ffi"#:.?ff,,3 have "l*: T:?,#:HJ".,X"-"1'or.rorian i* i? r,e"rs; they Hus- beforelFi::'trre y for erau'nationbeea;;;;:;l 1956Egypt ha'd ,?rxi**11* fhus, perform"o it*-autv J"r;il syriaand Jordan and did not wish to King ln the n.itr"l invorve tl":.,, the r.ail wi". ngypt good ;:ilTfiir**"ti# rike,o;;;; i 325 Egypt has been an example to a' Arab countries five years for the p.ast now and is st'l and witt-atrvays plying because what we are ap- at present is fut freedom in ttre exact .ur"u o? the word, a revolution that rectifies its own errors. . When were committed, some mistakes it straightened itserf out people' and then said to the the owners of the trust : 327 ple, the owners of the trust . .. we are all worrring to build up u society of love, a society in which there is absolutery no place for spite or' malice ; a society of the one family in wiictr every man feels: a sense of brotherhood everywhere; a society of the state which is f'lly responsibre of guaranteeing the rivelihood of every individual on the land of Egypt, in its cities, deserts, villages and hamlets. I rvould like to indicate to you what r rearned in days gone by, while in prison ; r learned that great matters can be reaehed through patience, not foree. we have to be patient, but you should not waste one single moment, my sons, without constant and hard training. r promise you, as you have heard me tell your brothers in the second Army, to get you as mueh as I ca. of modern and sophisticated weapons. we shall never lag behind once again, and if we, the Arabs, ever do that again, it wilr be a knock-out. proved we ourselves in the last batiles, and batiles are no longer problem a for us. r{owever, the world cannot forge ahead and ad- vance,rvhile we are standing still or stagnant. promise I you that whatever the difficulties, r shall provide you with all your pre-requisites . .. r am also certain, and assure you that your people wilr never t forget what you have done and are doing for them. r I am also certain that you will live up to our expectations of more I hard training, to further deverop military sciences, and to give your weapons from your own being, as you had sacrificed in the october batfle in order to bridge the gap r between you us and rsrael. did so by your psychologicar intrinsic per{ormance; v the performance of the Egyptian ... you shourd be D confident that your people will never forget what you have per- t- formedand fulfilled; they are asking you to be always prepared to ic sacrifice more whenever necessary. May God guide you" sieps ano F God'speace be upon you. 32p