Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-07-18
Middle East Crisis

$500 NNN-eNs - ~Nea @AA~A
Lebanon have dramatically
unmasked the Egyptian sub
versfve activities which
threaten TO plunge the Mid
die East. and possibly the
whole world, into q bloody
war. Iraq has exploded, and
Lebanon is O powder keg,
with its fuse In Syria, and
the match In Dictator Mas
ser's hands.
For years Arab propaganda
has tried to pin on Israel the
blame for the troubles In the
Middle East. and thus to d.
vert the attention Of our
country's leadership from the
true causes Of these troubles.
1t may be instructive TO men,
ton some Of the crises which
have plagued the Arab coun-
tries in recent years.
Syria has had i've coups.
Lebanon has had two. King
Abdullah Of Jordan was as
sassinated in 1851 by Arab
fanatics. Last year King
Hussein of Jordan almost lost
his crown land his head to
Nasser. Since 1892, when it
achieved its independence.
Iraq has experienced five
coups. the most notorious be-
ing the pro-Nazi revolt in
1941s In Egypt, King Farouk
was deposed In 1882, and the
military tunta started a.
guerrilla war against the
British.
In none Of these events was
Israel ever involved in any
way. Nor has Israel ever tried
to utilize any Of these crises
for furthering her own inter-
ests, or even for forcing peace
settlements on her Arab
neighbors and breaking the
blockade and boycott i'm
posed on her by these Arab
lands.
Is itnot q paradox that the
only peaceful and quiet bor-
der that Lebanon enjoys Is
the stretch along the Israeli
frontier? Even opponents Of
Israel have to admit now that
the only stabilizing factor in
the Arab Middle East is
Israel. For one can wen i'm
agine what would be the fate
Of Lebanon and Jordan and
the oil fields in Saudi Arabia,
were there not an Israel to :
separate the two belligerent
Arab camps. As for the
United States, there is very
little doubt that Israel is the
only stable ally we have in
the area.
Bernard s. white.
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It Is hard to say which is
more fantastic--the decision
to send troops into Lebanon.
or the reasons given for this
action. It is said we dare not
lose" Lebanon and Jordan.
not to mention Iraq. Were
they our flefs? Presumably
the Russians have as much
cause to worry about losing"
these nations as we have, q
concern that can only be
heightened IL our troops start
cluttering UP the landscape.
Why is 1t that we always
end up opposing nationalistic
movements? Is it not possible
for our reasonable alterna-
tives to include making
friends with the pan-Arab
movement? I would congrat-
ulate the new rulers Of Iraq
on getting rid Of o king, and
express the hope that the
generals win use their power
to introduce political democ-
racy into their unhappy land.
Surely we viii hail them as
friends Of man If they move
to raise the standards Of liv-
ing Of the peasants, abolish
illiteracy. and introduce mod
ern health practices. It
would seem reasonable for us
to suggest that all Arab ma
tons nationalize their oil in
dustry, and use its consider
able proceeds for such pur-
poses.
Economically and politi-
cally, it would seem to make
sense for these nations to
unite, and for US to offer our
good ofices not only in help
ing their economic develop
ment, but In achieving some
sort Of reconciliation with
Israel. It might be easier to
flex our muscles and support
the status Quo-certainly it
makes less demand on the
imagination-but In the long
run 1t viii be unrealistic and
futile. II our hope is to OUT
do the Communists, rather
than defeat them in war, we
must give Up trying to make
the world stand pat. Instead