Evening star., 1960-03-06
SirAnthony
Leaves Us

BY RICHARD FRYKLUND
Star stan Writer

-
Star stan Writer
Reporters who shuttled be-
tween London and Cairo dur
ing the Suez crisis Of 1856
would remark to each other,
I'VE won't find out what is
going on until Eden writes
his memoirs" Now he has
written themi FULL CIR.
Gle. BY Sir Anthony Eden.
(Houghton Mifdin; $6.950
And though we now have a
better picture of what was on
the British Prime Minister'S
mind during that amazing
incident of history, his policy
still doesn't make much sense.
Sir Anthony casts himself
in the role of st. George slay-
ing Nasser, a dragon who
looks exactly like Adolf Hit
Ter. John Foster Dulles is
the player who throws away
the script, snatches the
sword from the defenders
hand and springs the dragon
for further maiden-devour-
ing.
Harsh Criticism
Sir Anthony's criticism Of
the Secretary of State is as
harsh as a trained diplomat
could permit himself to state:
1T is pardonable not to see
the danger. 1t is excusable to
see it and declare it and do
nothing effective about it on
moral grounds. 1t is unpar-
donable to see 1t and make
a pretense Of meeting it by
methods one knows in ones
heart to be totally ineffec-
tive"
But although he may be
right in saying Mr.. Dulles
was pretending the Secretary
apparently was willing to use
any device to cool Sir An
thony down and avoid shoot
ing). it is questionable
whether he is always right
in describing his own posi-
ton.
For instance, he says he
ordered the invasion Of
Egypt only to keep the Is
raeli-E Egyptian war from
spreading. But that does not
square with plans American
diplomats say he had to
overthrow the Nasser gov
ernment: nor does it square
with private statements Of
British government spokeS-
men who said in August and
September Of 1856 that an
invasion only waited for the
first good excuse. And it does
not square with reliable re-
ports-and hints in the Eden
memoirs that the British
government encouraged the
Israeli to attack.
Sir Anthony says he
stopped the invasion in mid
stride not because Of Soviet
and American threats and
United Nations action but
because the fighting between
Israel and Egypt suddenly
stopped. But that little war
had stopped for all practical
purposes some days before.
Out of Phase
Other Eden statements
and actions seem to be out
OF phase with history. The
whole invasion was an anach-
ronism- something possible
during the old Colonial days,
but clearly impossible in 1856
in the non-Communist world.
American diplomats in
Cairo during the crisis said
armed action would build up
Mr.. Nasser and infiame the
whole Arab world. Sir An
thony believed that Arabs
were strange breed of man
who loved and respected peo-
pie who kicked them hard.
History seems to support the
American view.
Sir Anthony thought Mr..
Nasser would fall under
threats or at least under
military pressure or at
least under invasion. Ameri-
cans on the scene said he
and his people, newly inde-
pendent. proud Of their "sov-
ereignty and dignity" were
tougher than that. They
were.
One can support Mr..
Dulles actions during the
crisis only If one assumes
a peaceful end justifies any
means. But even after read
ing Sir Anthony's explana-
ton Of his own actions, one
cannot say they were ra-
tional.