Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-22
Continued From First Page

liamentary life" will be restored
to the country in January. There
is no prospect whatever that the
political parties. dissolved BY
decree in 1858. will be revived
Even within a single party
framework. it seems probable
that many members of the new
parliament will be appointed By
the regime and that its function
will be largely advisory.
Power in Military
For the time being at least
real power in Egypt will remain
in the hands of the IL army
and air force officers who form
what is known as the Revolt
tionary Command Council This
group. in turn. draws its support
from the Free Officers Movement
a highly organized secret con-
federation, said to include al
least one-third of the officers in
the armed forces. Though Col
Nasser as chairman of the coun
Gil yields by far the greatest IN
dlvidual authority. he is the
first to admit that he is not
indispensable.
Few people, to be sure, have
been disposed to shed many
tears over this state of affairs.
The most dedicated Democrat
would hardly welcome a return
to the pickering and corruption
that characterized Egyptian
politics during the unhappy
reign Of King Farouk. From all
quarters. there has been APP
plause for Col. NaSser's personal
sincerity and humility. And for
the fact that, for the first time
in centuries, Egypt has an effec-
tive. self disciplined government,
Today. most experienced dip
lomatS here believe that Col
Nasser is still Fundamentally de-
voted TO the original goals of
his reyolution-to reform the
Country's social system. raise
living standards and build Egypt
into a healthy modern state.
They think he is sincere when
he says that the last thing he
wants Is a new war with Israel.
What disturbs them-and may
even disturb Col. NaSser-is his
complete reliance on military
support. When the goals of the
revolution conflict with the de-
mands of the army, Col. Nssser's
freedom of choice seems ex-
tremely limited.
Wipe Out Humiliation
From the opening gun of the
revolution, the goal of the army
leaders has been simple: To wipe
out the humiliation of their de-
feat at the hands of Israel dur
ing the war and re-establish
their confidence and self-respect.
There is no Egyptian officer who
is not convinced that Egypt
would have won the war had it
not been for bribery and corrup-
ton in Cairo.
The score was partly settled
when King Farouk was hustled
aboard his royal yacht in Alex
andria harbor. But only partly.
Since then. the army has been
pressing Col. Nasser with grow
ing Impotence for new arms
and equipment.
From the beginning Col. Nasser
turned to the United States for
help. And from the beginning,
for a variety of reasons, nothing
whatever has come OF it. It
started of rather promisingly.
Within its overall policy of main
tanning a relative balance of
power In the Middle East, the
American Government was ready
to support the new revolutionary
regime and offer it limited mill
tary assistance.
These plans were scrapped
when Egypt got into a row with
Britain over occupation of the
Suez military base. Not unrea-
sonably. the British were against
our supplying guns to the Egyp-
tians which might be used to
shoot their soldiers. AS long as
this danger remained. we thought
1t in the best interests of every
one-including the Egyptians
to hold up the weapons. But
even before the conclusion of
an agreement with the British,
Col. Nasser had asked for and
received a guarantee of Ameri-
can military and economic aid
Plan Was Frustrated
This plan. in turn, was frus-
trated when Col. Nasser refused
to enter into the formal agree
ments required by American law
or accept the presence of an
American military mission along
with the weapons. He explained
frankly at the time that he could
not afford to give the impre ssion