1 00:00:11,049 --> 00:00:14,050 This is a story of how the government of the United Kingdom 2 00:00:14,005 --> 00:00:19,061 decided to attack an Arab nation, of how afraid 3 00:00:20,006 --> 00:00:20,088 its oil supplies were under threat and 4 00:00:20,088 --> 00:00:23,170 embarked on a strategy of regime change. 5 00:00:24,007 --> 00:00:27,176 Of how Britain deliberately bypassed the United Nations 6 00:00:27,869 --> 00:00:31,670 and of how a power British Prime Minister led 7 00:00:31,067 --> 00:00:35,071 the nation to war based on suspect intelligence. 8 00:00:35,071 --> 00:00:42,071 But this isn't Iraq 2003, 9 00:00:44,073 --> 00:00:49,072 this is Egypt 1956. These are British paratroopers 10 00:00:49,072 --> 00:00:51,063 fighting on the orders of British Prime Minister 11 00:00:51,063 --> 00:00:55,149 Anthony Eden. He has gambled on a war in a desperate bid to destroy 12 00:00:56,049 --> 00:00:59,084 Egypt's new young president Gamal Abdel Nasser. 13 00:01:00,076 --> 00:01:03,108 "I'm utterly convinced the action we have taken is right." 14 00:01:04,007 --> 00:01:07,050 This is a war over who will run 15 00:01:07,005 --> 00:01:11,043 this Egyptian waterway - the Suez Canal - and the vital 16 00:01:11,043 --> 00:01:13,064 oil supplies which are transported through it. 17 00:01:13,064 --> 00:01:17,065 Suez is a crisis which will push the world to the brink of nuclear 18 00:01:17,074 --> 00:01:19,975 catastrophe. "That moment I did think 19 00:01:19,975 --> 00:01:21,100 this is really going to be the 20 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:24,061 Third World War." 21 00:01:24,061 --> 00:01:27,149 In Britain we know Suez is a war based on a Prime Minister's lie, 22 00:01:28,049 --> 00:01:32,123 a lie which destroys him. "MI-6 sexed up their intelligence." 23 00:01:33,023 --> 00:01:37,051 But seen from the other side, Suez is a story of how a small 24 00:01:37,051 --> 00:01:40,079 poor Arab country defended itself against the Western world 25 00:01:40,079 --> 00:01:44,158 and won. "People will defend their country, they will defend their land." 26 00:02:02,002 --> 00:02:06,061 July the 26th, 1956. It is a warm evening 27 00:02:06,061 --> 00:02:10,073 as Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser prepares to address his people. 28 00:02:10,073 --> 00:02:14,119 His country is in ferment. Only seven days before, 29 00:02:15,019 --> 00:02:19,035 the young president had suffered a humiliating blow when the West sabotaged 30 00:02:19,035 --> 00:02:20,068 his key plan to lift 31 00:02:20,068 --> 00:02:25,070 Egypt out of poverty. Now, two hundred thousand people gathered to hear their 32 00:02:25,088 --> 00:02:26,091 president's response. 33 00:02:27,018 --> 00:02:32,023 But unknown to the crowd, 30 people stationed on the banks of the Suez Canal 34 00:02:32,068 --> 00:02:35,153 are listening for a password - a Frenchman's name hidden 35 00:02:36,053 --> 00:02:39,058 in Nasser's speech. "They have 36 00:02:39,058 --> 00:02:43,066 their radio on to follow the speech 37 00:02:43,066 --> 00:02:47,095 waiting for the password "De Lesseps." 38 00:02:47,095 --> 00:02:52,152 When they hear this word, their president has told them to storm the offices of 39 00:02:53,052 --> 00:02:54,096 the Suez Canal Company. 40 00:02:54,096 --> 00:02:57,105 {Segment from speech} 41 00:02:58,005 --> 00:03:01,079 As jubilant Egyptians celebrate, 42 00:03:01,079 --> 00:03:05,150 Nasser heads to a movie theater to relax. He doesn't know that in London, 43 00:03:06,005 --> 00:03:13,005 Anthony Eden has already decided to have him killed. 44 00:03:18,079 --> 00:03:21,100 Egypt - cradle of ancient civilizations 45 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,035 and in the post-war era, strategically the most valuable country in the Arab 46 00:03:26,035 --> 00:03:29,035 world. 47 00:03:29,035 --> 00:03:34,110 Thanks to this, the Suez Canal, which carries oil to the economies of the West. 48 00:03:35,001 --> 00:03:39,057 The company that runs the canal 49 00:03:39,066 --> 00:03:43,073 is largely owned by Egypt's old colonial masters, Britain and France, 50 00:03:43,073 --> 00:03:46,110 and is staffed by Europeans. "Reconsider 51 00:03:47,001 --> 00:03:53,002 the Suez Canal Company is a country, inside 52 00:03:53,011 --> 00:03:59,093 our country, a state inside our state. Egypt sees virtually nothing of the tens of millions of dollars the 53 00:03:59,093 --> 00:04:00,139 canal earns each year. 54 00:04:01,039 --> 00:04:05,388 Feelings of resentment are growing. "Imagine 55 00:04:05,739 --> 00:04:11,080 somebody, a foreigner in your country, and he give your nothing. 56 00:04:11,008 --> 00:04:14,020 He take everything and give you nothing. Is that justice?" 57 00:04:14,002 --> 00:04:15,008 58 00:04:15,008 --> 00:04:20,019 59 00:04:20,091 --> 00:04:24,147 In February 1955, Egypt's young President Gamal Abdel Nasser 60 00:04:25,047 --> 00:04:28,081 meets British Prime Minister Anthony Eden for the first time. 61 00:04:28,081 --> 00:04:31,132 The two men dislike one another from the start. 62 00:04:32,032 --> 00:04:36,067 "The impression of President Nasser 63 00:04:36,067 --> 00:04:39,083 about Anthony Eden 64 00:04:39,083 --> 00:04:41,134 was that he was small Cheshire and not a, you know, 65 00:04:42,034 --> 00:04:44,122 committed with imposing 66 00:04:45,022 --> 00:04:50,561 the British point of view on the other side." 67 00:04:50,759 --> 00:04:54,813 For Eden, Egypt remains part of Britain's sphere of influence in the Middle East. 68 00:04:55,299 --> 00:04:59,383 Although nominally independent since 1922, Egyptian kings have dutifully done 69 00:05:00,139 --> 00:05:01,198 what British Prime Minister's 70 00:05:01,729 --> 00:05:04,765 have told them to do. "Eden lived in the 71 00:05:05,089 --> 00:05:08,136 legend of the empire, but the world was different. 72 00:05:08,559 --> 00:05:11,588 Eden didn't realize 73 00:05:11,849 --> 00:05:16,960 the change in the balance of power." 74 00:05:16,096 --> 00:05:19,107 Anthony Eden is every inch the conservative Prime Minister. 75 00:05:20,007 --> 00:05:24,035 Educated at Eton and Oxford, he was foreign secretary during the war 76 00:05:24,035 --> 00:05:31,035 and is Winston Churchill's hand-picked successor. 77 00:05:32,008 --> 00:05:35,055 But in Nasser, Eden encounters a new kind of Arab leader. 78 00:05:35,055 --> 00:05:38,136 He is part of a new generation of Egyptians determined to secure 79 00:05:39,036 --> 00:05:42,090 real independence for their country. 80 00:05:42,009 --> 00:05:46,046 81 00:05:47,027 --> 00:05:51,416 82 00:05:51,659 --> 00:05:55,780 83 00:05:55,078 --> 00:05:58,117 Nasser is one of a group of officers who had overthrown the playboy 84 00:05:59,017 --> 00:06:03,062 King Farouk in 1952. Two years later, 85 00:06:03,062 --> 00:06:06,106 Nasser had shown Britain that Egypt would not be pushed around. 86 00:06:07,006 --> 00:06:11,013 An aggressive guerrilla campaign forces the British to evacuate 87 00:06:11,013 --> 00:06:14,061 eighty-eight thousand soldiers from the biggest base in the world, 88 00:06:14,061 --> 00:06:18,102 on the banks of the Suez Canal. "At that time, 89 00:06:19,002 --> 00:06:23,031 what was most important is real independence 90 00:06:23,031 --> 00:06:26,034 and to get free, really free, by 91 00:06:26,034 --> 00:06:30,043 evacuating the troops." "There was an operation 92 00:06:30,043 --> 00:06:34,050 against the British troops prior to the negotiations. 93 00:06:35,013 --> 00:06:38,091 When the negotiations go in a smooth way, 94 00:06:38,091 --> 00:06:42,094 we ease the resistance. When 95 00:06:43,021 --> 00:06:46,073 the British delegation became stubborn, 96 00:06:46,073 --> 00:06:53,073 we intensify the resistance." 97 00:06:56,699 --> 00:06:58,705 By the spring of 1956, 98 00:06:58,759 --> 00:07:03,300 Egypt is free of British troops. With his country moving away from its 99 00:07:03,003 --> 00:07:04,029 colonial past, 100 00:07:04,056 --> 00:07:09,285 Nasser embarks on an ambitious plan to transform the lives of his people. 101 00:07:09,789 --> 00:07:13,220 "Egypt was very much backward, 102 00:07:13,022 --> 00:07:16,061 half percent of the people were possessing 103 00:07:16,259 --> 00:07:19,630 nearly about seventy-five percent of the fortune. 104 00:07:19,063 --> 00:07:22,132 "We had one of the lowest standards life, 105 00:07:22,699 --> 00:07:25,733 the majority of Egyptians were in streets with 106 00:07:26,039 --> 00:07:30,520 naked feet." 107 00:07:30,052 --> 00:07:36,115 Nasser's solution is to build a huge dam on the Nile at Aswan 108 00:07:37,015 --> 00:07:40,018 which will provide water for agriculture and electricity. 109 00:07:40,018 --> 00:07:44,032 It will be the biggest dam in the world and will lift Egypt out of poverty 110 00:07:44,032 --> 00:07:47,125 once and for all. "This project of the high dam 111 00:07:48,025 --> 00:07:51,032 will provide Egypt with water to double the 112 00:07:51,032 --> 00:07:57,086 farms and will give power - electricity to industrialize Egypt." 113 00:07:57,086 --> 00:08:00,163 But Nasser needs four hundred million dollars to realize his dream, 114 00:08:01,063 --> 00:08:05,091 an enormous sum in the 1950s. His first port of call 115 00:08:05,091 --> 00:08:09,130 is the West. "In the beginning, Nasser 116 00:08:09,949 --> 00:08:15,008 and all the revolution have no problem with the Americans. On the contrary, we can get help 117 00:08:15,539 --> 00:08:20,130 of the Americans." The World Bank, backed by the United States and Britain, 118 00:08:20,013 --> 00:08:24,088 agrees to give him a loan. At this point, Nasser's relations with the Americans 119 00:08:24,088 --> 00:08:27,617 seem close. "Nasser's favorite film 120 00:08:28,409 --> 00:08:31,820 is It's a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart. He really loves that 121 00:08:31,082 --> 00:08:35,361 film and Washington arranges to send out a special copy of the film 122 00:08:36,099 --> 00:08:40,900 with Arabic subtitles." By 1956, 123 00:08:40,009 --> 00:08:43,948 Egypt's glamorous young president is confident his plans to develop Egypt 124 00:08:44,839 --> 00:08:47,851 are on course, but Nasser has another problem, 125 00:08:47,959 --> 00:08:54,959 which will destroy his plans. 126 00:08:55,759 --> 00:08:59,170 "As the sporadic fighting takes on the proportions of full-scale war, 127 00:08:59,017 --> 00:09:03,075 dead and captured arms are the order of the day, as both Arabs and Israelis put 128 00:09:03,075 --> 00:09:05,644 their nations on a full mobilization basis." 129 00:09:06,319 --> 00:09:10,382 {Explosions} 130 00:09:10,949 --> 00:09:14,981 Nassar faught in the Arab armies defeated by the Israelis in 1948. 131 00:09:15,269 --> 00:09:19,326 Since then the Middle East's newest state has fought a border war with its 132 00:09:19,839 --> 00:09:20,690 Arab neighbors. 133 00:09:20,069 --> 00:09:23,398 Israel's very existence is an affront 134 00:09:24,019 --> 00:09:28,038 to Nasser. "Nasser was at the time a great 135 00:09:28,209 --> 00:09:32,214 danger and enemy. Very soon, it was clear that he aspires 136 00:09:32,709 --> 00:09:36,690 to the unify the Arab world." "Nasser 137 00:09:36,069 --> 00:09:39,118 made great speeches. He was handsome, he 138 00:09:40,018 --> 00:09:43,079 was eloquent. He carried fire with him, 139 00:09:43,079 --> 00:09:48,144 there was a catastrophe." 140 00:09:49,044 --> 00:09:55,047 The Israelis see themselves surrounded by enemies, 141 00:09:55,047 --> 00:09:59,266 fearing attack, they are desperately trolling the world for arms. 142 00:09:59,689 --> 00:10:02,784 "The Americans were very strict, they wouldn't supply us arms, 143 00:10:03,639 --> 00:10:07,130 so did Great Britain, and I thought 144 00:10:07,013 --> 00:10:10,013 the only opening we have is France." 145 00:10:10,013 --> 00:10:16,041 France agrees to supply Israel with the Jewish state's 146 00:10:16,041 --> 00:10:19,660 first jet fighters. To Nasser, 147 00:10:20,029 --> 00:10:23,095 it looks like an increasingly powerful enemy is at the gates. 148 00:10:23,689 --> 00:10:27,721 "The French are giving Israel arms, I am 149 00:10:28,009 --> 00:10:31,620 confronting the situation that may distract my country. 150 00:10:31,062 --> 00:10:35,070 Should I stand still?" 151 00:10:35,007 --> 00:10:40,012 So Nasser decides he too will look abroad for arms. 152 00:10:40,075 --> 00:10:43,078 As with the loan for his dam, his first call 153 00:10:44,005 --> 00:10:47,033 is on the United States. "Nasser, from the first 154 00:10:47,033 --> 00:10:50,036 day of revolution, asks the Americans, 155 00:10:50,063 --> 00:10:53,095 I need arms, our 156 00:10:53,095 --> 00:10:56,139 army needs arms and he asked the British 157 00:10:57,039 --> 00:11:00,478 the same question. Neither the British 158 00:11:00,829 --> 00:11:07,829 nor the Americans gave a response on that." But this 159 00:11:09,459 --> 00:11:13,120 is the 1950s, the depths of the Cold War, 160 00:11:13,012 --> 00:11:17,054 the West and the Soviet Union are locked in a battle for influence across the 161 00:11:17,054 --> 00:11:17,663 world. 162 00:11:18,149 --> 00:11:21,240 Nasser knows that if Washington says no 163 00:11:21,024 --> 00:11:28,024 then maybe Nikita Khrushchev in Moscow will say yes. 164 00:11:30,052 --> 00:11:34,063 "Egypt flexes its military muscles with the display of arms newly acquired from 165 00:11:34,063 --> 00:11:35,117 Russia and its satellites." 166 00:11:36,017 --> 00:11:39,086 The first arms from the Soviet bloc 167 00:11:39,086 --> 00:11:42,086 land in Alexandria on the 27th of September, 168 00:11:42,086 --> 00:11:45,153 1955. The deal as a triumph for Khrushchev, 169 00:11:46,053 --> 00:11:49,067 who is keen to extend Communist influence in the region. 170 00:11:49,067 --> 00:11:52,150 "He didn't expect that countries would be communist immediately, 171 00:11:53,005 --> 00:11:56,078 he's willing to wait. Egypt was the first great success for him. 172 00:11:57,023 --> 00:12:00,034 This was for Khrushchev a sign. 173 00:12:00,034 --> 00:12:03,076 The kind of relationship he could have with many of the large states in 174 00:12:03,076 --> 00:12:03,159 developing world. 175 00:12:04,059 --> 00:12:07,077 And for the West, this was a very dramatic achievement." 176 00:12:07,077 --> 00:12:10,133 But Nasser is not in Khrushchev's pocket, 177 00:12:11,033 --> 00:12:16,046 as many in the West fear. "Nasser has never been a Communist, never, never 178 00:12:16,046 --> 00:12:19,129 at all." "We are believer. I am a believer, I believe in God. Nasser 179 00:12:20,029 --> 00:12:23,045 used to believe in God. Nasser used to pray. 180 00:12:23,045 --> 00:12:26,102 The Communists don't believe in God. 181 00:12:27,002 --> 00:12:31,019 Nasser was an anti-communist. 182 00:12:31,019 --> 00:12:35,020 The soviets knew full well he was an anti-communist. They knew that he was putting communists 183 00:12:35,002 --> 00:12:35,055 in jail. 184 00:12:35,073 --> 00:12:38,115 He didn't let those communists out of jail when his relations improved with the 185 00:12:39,015 --> 00:12:42,048 Soviet Union, but both sides made a pragmatic 186 00:12:42,048 --> 00:12:45,075 decision." But in Eden's view, 187 00:12:45,075 --> 00:12:49,078 Nasser does look like a communist stooge. The prime minister and the Americans 188 00:12:50,005 --> 00:12:52,091 decide to punish him for cutting a deal with the Soviets. 189 00:12:52,091 --> 00:12:56,135 Their response is to mount a covert campaign against Nasser, 190 00:12:57,035 --> 00:13:01,110 code-named Omega. "Omega includes propaganda 191 00:13:02,001 --> 00:13:05,024 to provide information to journalists, to broadcasters, 192 00:13:05,033 --> 00:13:09,082 that say, "Nasser really isn't a very good person, can you please report this?" 193 00:13:09,082 --> 00:13:11,171 194 00:13:12,071 --> 00:13:15,116 "Omega also includes sanctions against Egypt. It includes 195 00:13:16,016 --> 00:13:20,061 locking military aid to Egypt." Then 196 00:13:20,061 --> 00:13:24,144 as part of this undeclared war, a secret decision is taken to slow down financing 197 00:13:25,044 --> 00:13:26,087 on the Aswan dam. 198 00:13:26,087 --> 00:13:30,094 Anthony Eden and the US Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, 199 00:13:30,094 --> 00:13:33,100 are behind the new strategy. "I think 200 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:38,035 Dulles was angry with Nasser for having 201 00:13:38,035 --> 00:13:42,048 almost flaunted his independence. I really think that 202 00:13:42,048 --> 00:13:46,133 Dulles believed that Nasser's behavior was 203 00:13:47,033 --> 00:13:54,033 almost a personal affront him. 204 00:13:54,067 --> 00:13:58,067 In London, Eden's mistrust of Nasser is increased by some mysterious 205 00:13:58,067 --> 00:14:01,166 intelligence reports which have just landed on his desk. 206 00:14:01,769 --> 00:14:05,540 They are from an MI6 contact known as "Lucky Break". 207 00:14:05,054 --> 00:14:10,097 Lucky Break tells Eden that Nasser is a pawn of the Soviet Union 208 00:14:10,097 --> 00:14:15,256 and the Egyptian people will welcome his overthrow. "From reading the reports in MI6 209 00:14:16,129 --> 00:14:19,138 is giving to British officials and giving to the Americans, 210 00:14:20,029 --> 00:14:23,490 I think they're taking a few sources and their sexing them up. 211 00:14:23,049 --> 00:14:27,338 No one individual 212 00:14:27,779 --> 00:14:33,600 could have provided the information that Nasser was so close to the Soviets, 213 00:14:33,006 --> 00:14:37,013 that Nasser was so vulnerable to being overthrown, 214 00:14:37,067 --> 00:14:40,069 if not assinated, because that was 215 00:14:40,087 --> 00:14:45,158 not true, that simply was not true." 216 00:14:46,058 --> 00:14:49,113 But "Lucky Break" is telling the British Prime Minister 217 00:14:50,013 --> 00:14:55,071 what he wants to hear them. The firm attitude that the government have adopted is not (quote fades) 218 00:14:55,071 --> 00:14:56,077 Foreign Office Minister Anthony Nutting 219 00:14:57,031 --> 00:15:00,037 is one of the first to realize just how far the Prime Minister 220 00:15:00,091 --> 00:15:02,763 is now prepared to go. "Over an open line, 221 00:15:05,435 --> 00:15:08,109 having just said, 'it's me,' we started a violent argument on the telephone, and he 222 00:15:09,009 --> 00:15:09,105 was really violent 223 00:15:10,005 --> 00:15:12,036 in our conversation 224 00:15:12,036 --> 00:15:16,195 and ended up by shouting at me, 'I don't want Nasser neutralized, I want him 225 00:15:16,519 --> 00:15:17,390 destroyed'." 226 00:15:17,039 --> 00:15:20,178 There were two-two people [unintelligible] in conversation: 227 00:15:20,529 --> 00:15:24,060 Eden and Nutting. Nutting said subsequently that Eden had said murder. 228 00:15:24,006 --> 00:15:28,067 229 00:15:28,067 --> 00:15:29,142 Operatives within MI6 230 00:15:30,042 --> 00:15:34,139 take the Prime Minister at his word. "What you have is Thomas of Becket situation 231 00:15:35,039 --> 00:15:36,064 were Eden says will someone not 232 00:15:36,064 --> 00:15:41,152 make me rid of this turbulent Nasser." "I'm not exaggerating. 233 00:15:42,052 --> 00:15:45,060 Nearly every month, nearly 234 00:15:46,032 --> 00:15:49,032 every month, there was an attempt against Nasser. 235 00:15:49,032 --> 00:15:52,060 From the West, either French 236 00:15:52,006 --> 00:15:56,094 or British, or Israelis, nearly every month. 237 00:15:57,048 --> 00:16:01,066 As Nasser was making a public speech in Alexandria, 238 00:16:01,066 --> 00:16:05,071 a young man fired eight bullets at him. All missed the Premier, but two of his aids 239 00:16:06,016 --> 00:16:06,069 were wounded. 240 00:16:06,069 --> 00:16:09,086 "The plans just are are wildly out of control, 241 00:16:09,086 --> 00:16:12,132 putting nerve gas into the ventilation system of 242 00:16:13,032 --> 00:16:17,034 Nasser's headquarters, trying to put poison into Nasser's coffee, 243 00:16:17,034 --> 00:16:24,034 trying at some point to possibly shoot Nasser. 244 00:16:27,071 --> 00:16:31,117 If Lucky Break did not exist in 1956, he would have had to be created 245 00:16:32,017 --> 00:16:39,017 to justify their extravagant plans to get rid of Nasser. 246 00:16:49,045 --> 00:16:53,116 On the 19th of July, 1956, the Egyptian ambassador to the USA 247 00:16:54,016 --> 00:16:58,049 is called into the state department. He is informed that the financing up the Aswan 248 00:16:58,049 --> 00:17:00,114 dam is cancelled. 249 00:17:01,014 --> 00:17:05,040 If the West can't assassinate Nasser, then they will destroy his dreams to 250 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:06,057 develop Egypt. 251 00:17:06,057 --> 00:17:11,076 To add insult to injury, president Nasser only learns of the decision from the 252 00:17:11,076 --> 00:17:12,080 radio news. 253 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:16,720 I was surprised by the insultive attitude 254 00:17:17,449 --> 00:17:21,180 which the refusal was declared, 255 00:17:21,018 --> 00:17:24,060 not by the refusal itself, but the 256 00:17:24,060 --> 00:17:30,132 insultive attitude and- which meant humiliation. Now 257 00:17:31,032 --> 00:17:35,038 Nasser has two choices, he can meekly except the West's punishment, 258 00:17:35,092 --> 00:17:38,154 or he can fight. Three days later, 259 00:17:39,054 --> 00:17:44,093 he gathers his most trusted lieutenants together. "President Nasser 260 00:17:44,093 --> 00:17:51,093 ordered me to bring him the file on the Suez Canal. 261 00:17:53,095 --> 00:17:58,174 And he told me 'what about nationalizing this canal?'" 262 00:17:59,029 --> 00:18:03,105 I got surprised 263 00:18:03,789 --> 00:18:06,888 but internally 264 00:18:07,779 --> 00:18:11,840 in myself, I got proud to think about 265 00:18:12,389 --> 00:18:15,405 this action at that time. 266 00:18:15,549 --> 00:18:18,578 I felt proud." 267 00:18:18,839 --> 00:18:21,900 Nasser calculates that the Aswan dam can still be built, 268 00:18:22,449 --> 00:18:25,537 if the tolls have ships transiting the Suez Canal come to Egypt 269 00:18:26,329 --> 00:18:29,385 and not the British and French controlled Suez Canal Company. 270 00:18:29,889 --> 00:18:33,917 But Nasser knows that nationalization is a huge risk, 271 00:18:34,169 --> 00:18:38,181 he will have to physically seize control of the canal itself. 272 00:18:38,289 --> 00:18:43,190 The next day he is scheduled to make his first speech since his humiliation at 273 00:18:43,019 --> 00:18:46,358 the hands of the West. All Egypt waits for his response. 274 00:18:46,529 --> 00:18:50,543 275 00:18:50,669 --> 00:18:53,765 The speech is an anti-climax. "It was all rhetoric. 276 00:18:54,629 --> 00:18:58,676 The reaction of Egyptians was 'Oh, that he hasn't got the balls 277 00:18:59,099 --> 00:19:03,168 to really stand up to the United States. But afterwards 278 00:19:03,789 --> 00:19:06,812 Nasser orders an old military colleague, Mahmoud Eunice, 279 00:19:07,019 --> 00:19:11,035 to mastermind the dangerous job taking physical control of the canal. 280 00:19:11,179 --> 00:19:14,860 Eunice selects 30 man he can trust. 281 00:19:14,086 --> 00:19:17,144 Eunice emphasized that, if 282 00:19:18,044 --> 00:19:21,049 this peace of news 283 00:19:21,049 --> 00:19:24,066 is released then 284 00:19:24,066 --> 00:19:27,068 it will surely 285 00:19:27,086 --> 00:19:31,139 not succeed. Three days later, 286 00:19:32,039 --> 00:19:36,073 Nasser is scheduled to speak publicly again. The men know their queue for 287 00:19:36,073 --> 00:19:39,077 action is a password hidden in the President's speech, 288 00:19:39,077 --> 00:19:42,138 which will be carried on Egyptian radio. The password 289 00:19:43,038 --> 00:19:47,061 is the name of the man who designed the canal, Ferdinand de Lesseps. 290 00:19:47,061 --> 00:19:51,144 As they wait, they still don't know if their President has definitely decided 291 00:19:52,044 --> 00:19:53,078 to take the gamble. 292 00:19:53,078 --> 00:19:56,147 "My feelings were combination 293 00:19:57,047 --> 00:20:00,101 of first, fear, 294 00:20:01,001 --> 00:20:05,002 and of course the sense of 295 00:20:05,011 --> 00:20:08,102 responsibility. This 296 00:20:09,002 --> 00:20:16,002 is tremendous. 297 00:20:19,078 --> 00:20:24,347 In the stifling July heat, Nasser makes his way to Alexandria's Mansheya Square, 298 00:20:25,049 --> 00:20:30,090 where he is to deliver his speech. Once again his people wait to hear if he 299 00:20:30,009 --> 00:20:31,052 will respond to the West's 300 00:20:31,052 --> 00:20:35,100 denial of funding for the Aswan dam. At 9pm, 301 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:41,021 Nasser climbs the podium. The speech is long. 302 00:20:41,021 --> 00:20:46,058 Nasser catalogs the centuries of humiliations the Egyptians have suffered 303 00:20:46,058 --> 00:20:50,110 at the hands of the West. 304 00:20:51,001 --> 00:20:54,690 It is an attitude of such arrogance towards other peoples. We will not be manipulated. 305 00:20:54,789 --> 00:20:55,850 306 00:20:55,085 --> 00:20:57,169 His tone is measured but angry. 307 00:20:58,069 --> 00:21:01,125 Today we are going to get rid of what happened in the past. 308 00:21:02,025 --> 00:21:07,112 309 00:21:08,012 --> 00:21:11,023 On the canal, Esset and his men are in position, 310 00:21:11,023 --> 00:21:14,086 ready for the signal, but after two hours, 311 00:21:14,086 --> 00:21:17,151 it still hasn't come. 312 00:21:18,051 --> 00:21:25,051 "Every year the Company earn 35 million pounds sterling. This money should be ours. 313 00:21:26,006 --> 00:21:29,094 Then the moment of truth 314 00:21:29,094 --> 00:21:33,108 "I imagined I had seen Ferdinand De Lesseps." 315 00:21:34,008 --> 00:21:38,054 At the signal, Eunice, Esset and their men, simultaneously break into the 316 00:21:38,054 --> 00:21:40,117 four main offices ot the Suez Canal Company. 317 00:21:41,017 --> 00:21:45,025 In Alexandria, Nasser leaves nothing to chance. 318 00:21:45,025 --> 00:21:48,104 He repeats the password a total of 14 times. 319 00:21:49,004 --> 00:21:52,086 320 00:21:52,086 --> 00:21:54,163 321 00:21:55,063 --> 00:21:59,068 In the Canal Company headquarters, Eunice informs the European employees that the 322 00:22:00,013 --> 00:22:01,100 company has been nationalized. 323 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:03,069 He is polite, 324 00:22:03,069 --> 00:22:07,161 but he is also armed. Attempts sabotage or obstruction by the employees 325 00:22:08,061 --> 00:22:11,460 will not be tolerated. "They were very 326 00:22:12,009 --> 00:22:16,110 astonished and afraid. 327 00:22:16,011 --> 00:22:19,062 We tried to calmed them down and 328 00:22:19,062 --> 00:22:22,951 asked them to continue work 329 00:22:23,509 --> 00:22:26,740 as if nothing has happened." 330 00:22:26,074 --> 00:22:30,110 Back in Alexandria, Nasser now reveals to the world 331 00:22:31,001 --> 00:22:38,001 what the employees at the Suez Canal Company have just discovered. 332 00:22:43,089 --> 00:22:46,172 "Some of your fellow citizens have just taken over the Canal." Across Egypt, there is pandemonium. "It was a. 333 00:22:47,072 --> 00:22:51,091 bombshell, of course, absolute bombshell. We listen to this thing 334 00:22:51,091 --> 00:22:55,107 nobody expected." "People were rioting 335 00:22:56,007 --> 00:22:59,026 in the street. 336 00:22:59,026 --> 00:23:02,039 I celebrated with all Egyptians." 337 00:23:02,039 --> 00:23:04,092 The Suez Canal Company shall be nationalized. All Company assets shall be transferred to the state. The Company is under new management. 338 00:23:04,092 --> 00:23:11,092 339 00:23:13,079 --> 00:23:19,094 340 00:23:19,094 --> 00:23:21,168 The employees at the newly nationalized company 341 00:23:22,068 --> 00:23:25,111 do not join in the celebrations. "I remember that 342 00:23:26,011 --> 00:23:29,093 some of them said, 'You do not 343 00:23:29,093 --> 00:23:32,120 to realize the impact 344 00:23:33,002 --> 00:23:36,005 and the reactions from the West. 345 00:23:36,023 --> 00:23:39,050 Because the West cannot leave 346 00:23:39,005 --> 00:23:42,013 this international waterway 347 00:23:42,058 --> 00:23:45,149 in incapable hands. 348 00:23:46,049 --> 00:23:50,057 In London, 349 00:23:51,029 --> 00:23:55,080 Eden is enjoying post-dinner brandys with military and diplomatic top brass 350 00:23:55,008 --> 00:23:56,011 at No. 10. 351 00:23:56,083 --> 00:23:59,083 When news of Nasser's actions comes through, 352 00:23:59,083 --> 00:24:02,137 he is furious. "We all know this is how 353 00:24:03,037 --> 00:24:07,070 fascist governments behave and we all remember, 354 00:24:07,007 --> 00:24:10,102 only too well, what the cost can be 355 00:24:11,065 --> 00:24:15,161 in giving in to Fascism." The former commanding officer 356 00:24:16,061 --> 00:24:20,087 of our battalion described, in his usual blunt way to me, he said that 357 00:24:20,087 --> 00:24:24,116 the moment you mentioned the name Nasser, Eden practically 358 00:24:25,016 --> 00:24:30,048 got down and chewed the carpet. 359 00:24:30,048 --> 00:24:33,937 But in the United States, initial reaction is less belligerent. 360 00:24:34,369 --> 00:24:38,210 Eisenhower dispatches John Foster Dulles to London, 361 00:24:38,021 --> 00:24:42,840 to calm me Eden down. Dulles carries with him a letter from the President. 362 00:24:43,029 --> 00:24:46,330 "The letter said that, under no circumstances, within 363 00:24:46,033 --> 00:24:49,862 American public opinion or the american government support use of force in the 364 00:24:50,159 --> 00:24:54,850 Middle East." But Eden has already made his decision. 365 00:24:54,085 --> 00:24:57,404 The next morning, Eisenhower had a 366 00:24:58,169 --> 00:25:01,600 cable from Eden, 367 00:25:01,006 --> 00:25:05,105 stating the explicitly that the government had decided that they were 368 00:25:06,059 --> 00:25:07,124 going to get rid of Nasser, 369 00:25:08,024 --> 00:25:12,323 that this is the only alternative, that there was a firm decision, they were 370 00:25:12,539 --> 00:25:13,551 going to change it, 371 00:25:13,659 --> 00:25:17,660 and that was that." 372 00:25:17,759 --> 00:25:20,940 "Essentially, the British and French reaction 373 00:25:20,094 --> 00:25:25,313 to the Suez Crisis, captivated two principles, 374 00:25:26,159 --> 00:25:29,196 about which we have heard quite a lot recently. 375 00:25:29,529 --> 00:25:32,530 One was regime change, feeling that Nasser must go. 376 00:25:32,539 --> 00:25:35,610 The other was preemptive 377 00:25:36,249 --> 00:25:39,830 self-defense. Eden's justification for this 378 00:25:39,083 --> 00:25:43,097 is the belief that Nasser is a Soviet puppet, a direct threat 379 00:25:43,097 --> 00:25:47,176 to British interests. Lucky Break's intelligence has told him so. 380 00:25:48,049 --> 00:25:52,062 But the intelligence is wrong. In moscow, 381 00:25:52,179 --> 00:25:55,179 Nikita Kruschev knows nothing of Nasser's plans. 382 00:25:55,179 --> 00:26:00,720 "When he nationalized the canal, it was a surprise for the Soviet Union also. 383 00:26:00,072 --> 00:26:04,073 He didn't take their permission or anything." 384 00:26:04,082 --> 00:26:08,181 "Even once he had made this decision, a few days before the announcement, he didn't tell the Soviets. 385 00:26:08,919 --> 00:26:12,840 And he didn't tell them for an obvious reason, he knew what their reaction 386 00:26:12,084 --> 00:26:16,773 would be. Moscow would tell him, "Don't do it." The West 387 00:26:17,529 --> 00:26:23,567 saw Moscow as the ginger man in the story, as provoking Nasser to be more and 388 00:26:23,909 --> 00:26:23,985 more aggressive. 389 00:26:24,669 --> 00:26:28,753 In fact, Moscow was doing the opposite." Meanwhile, 390 00:26:29,509 --> 00:26:33,220 in the newly nationalized canal, the atmosphere is tense. 391 00:26:33,022 --> 00:26:37,601 Nasser knows that Edan does not expect the Egyptians will be able to run the 392 00:26:37,799 --> 00:26:38,350 canal. 393 00:26:38,035 --> 00:26:41,041 Critical to its running, are the three hundred pilots, 394 00:26:41,095 --> 00:26:45,134 nearly all European, who guide each ship from one end to the other. 395 00:26:46,034 --> 00:26:49,047 "Without these pilots, the traffic will 396 00:26:49,047 --> 00:26:52,082 will never start, canal will stop." 397 00:26:52,082 --> 00:26:55,151 "We noticed that after 398 00:26:55,889 --> 00:26:58,955 the summer leave is over, some 399 00:26:59,549 --> 00:27:03,550 did not come back. We also notice 400 00:27:03,559 --> 00:27:07,350 that some are selling their cars." 401 00:27:07,035 --> 00:27:10,604 "In fourteenth of September, 402 00:27:10,919 --> 00:27:13,925 at twelve o'clock, they declared 403 00:27:14,519 --> 00:27:19,590 we stop work." Seven weeks after nationalization, 404 00:27:19,059 --> 00:27:23,248 the British Prime Minister has secretly instructed the pilots to abandon the 405 00:27:23,779 --> 00:27:23,838 canal. 406 00:27:24,369 --> 00:27:27,720 "It was now an exam, in 407 00:27:27,072 --> 00:27:30,135 which if we failed, then soon, 408 00:27:31,035 --> 00:27:37,074 then soon the Suez Canal would be lost. Egypt's hopes rest on the shoulders of the 409 00:27:37,074 --> 00:27:39,863 26-year-old trainee pilot Ali Nasri, 410 00:27:40,529 --> 00:27:44,533 who, with only a fortnight's training, has to take a ship through the canal. 411 00:27:44,929 --> 00:27:49,952 "My first vessel was German and the captain came and say, 412 00:27:50,159 --> 00:27:55,220 'You are from the new pilots?', I said, 'Yes and this is my first time. 413 00:27:55,022 --> 00:27:59,069 I have to take a ship alone'." 414 00:27:59,069 --> 00:28:04,048 The potential for disaster is huge. The canal is little over a hundred meters 415 00:28:04,669 --> 00:28:05,681 wide at points. 416 00:28:05,789 --> 00:28:09,886 Ali Nasri fears a miscalculation could send his tanker into the bank's 417 00:28:10,759 --> 00:28:13,788 blocking the whole canal and proving Eden right. 418 00:28:14,049 --> 00:28:19,134 "The feeling of responsibility makes me losing some confidence. 419 00:28:19,899 --> 00:28:23,700 I couldn't see the buoys. You see the green boys and red buoys. 420 00:28:23,007 --> 00:28:27,476 I couldn't see any. 421 00:28:28,169 --> 00:28:32,251 But by time, they [unintelligible], and they start to give orders. 422 00:28:32,989 --> 00:28:35,120 423 00:28:35,012 --> 00:28:42,012 Slowly his ship moves off down the canal. 424 00:28:45,057 --> 00:28:51,098 "My orders, I executed immediately. 425 00:28:51,098 --> 00:28:53,166 You keep the vessel in the middle, straight. 426 00:28:54,066 --> 00:28:57,073 So I start to feel happy, relax. 427 00:28:57,073 --> 00:29:00,107 I can see the way, the vessel was moving. 428 00:29:01,007 --> 00:29:07,009 So I start to feel easy-easy." Nasri's progress is followed with baited breath 429 00:29:07,027 --> 00:29:10,079 on the banks of the canal. I saw somebody 430 00:29:10,079 --> 00:29:13,130 in the road, somebody calling, "Pilot, Pilot." 431 00:29:14,003 --> 00:29:18,028 Yes, I look by the glass, and found him, Mahmoud Younis himself. 432 00:29:18,055 --> 00:29:22,119 The Chairman standing in the road saying, 433 00:29:23,019 --> 00:29:26,088 'Good luck, go ahead." 434 00:29:26,088 --> 00:29:30,181 14 hours later, a ship piloted by an Egyptian has passed successfully through 435 00:29:31,081 --> 00:29:31,155 the canal. 436 00:29:32,055 --> 00:29:35,057 Once again, there are celebrations in the streets. 437 00:29:35,057 --> 00:29:38,155 "It is beyond any imagination 438 00:29:39,055 --> 00:29:42,056 that gave the confidence 439 00:29:42,065 --> 00:29:45,118 to the Egyptian state that they can do 440 00:29:46,018 --> 00:29:49,054 what the whole world thought 441 00:29:49,054 --> 00:29:55,573 that they cannot. 442 00:29:56,059 --> 00:30:00,095 But in London, Eden is still determined to build a case for intervention. 443 00:30:00,419 --> 00:30:03,580 Removing the pilots is only his opening gambit. 444 00:30:03,058 --> 00:30:07,037 Now he decides to overwhelm the inexperienced Egyptians 445 00:30:07,559 --> 00:30:13,330 by forcing a gigantic fleet of tankers through the canal. 446 00:30:13,033 --> 00:30:17,104 "Now the British had planned a nice little scheme which would demonstrate to 447 00:30:18,004 --> 00:30:19,086 the world Egyptians were incompetent at 448 00:30:19,086 --> 00:30:22,905 running the canal and they would have lots of ships, just poised and ready, 449 00:30:23,679 --> 00:30:26,900 to go through the canal once the pilot's have been withdrawn." 450 00:30:26,009 --> 00:30:30,065 "Then instead of receiving, say 20 vessels at 451 00:30:31,046 --> 00:30:36,145 Port Said, you receive 30, to make it more difficult 452 00:30:36,559 --> 00:30:43,559 for any group to carry on as [unintelligible]. 453 00:30:43,077 --> 00:30:46,078 Exhausted, the 36 Egyptian pilots 454 00:30:46,078 --> 00:30:49,161 and whatever foreign recruits they can muster, work day and night 455 00:30:50,061 --> 00:30:53,099 to deny Eden his wish and to keep the canal running. 456 00:30:53,099 --> 00:30:56,102 We were working continuously. 457 00:30:57,029 --> 00:31:00,118 President Nasser, at that time, 458 00:31:01,018 --> 00:31:04,055 was on the phone, on the wireless, 459 00:31:04,055 --> 00:31:08,108 hour by hour." 460 00:31:09,008 --> 00:31:13,064 The Egyptians succeed in keeping the canal open, despite Eden's best efforts 461 00:31:13,064 --> 00:31:13,155 at sabotage. 462 00:31:14,055 --> 00:31:17,127 For a second time, the Prime Minister has been foiled. 463 00:31:18,027 --> 00:31:21,071 The whole world was 464 00:31:21,071 --> 00:31:24,157 not expect, at all, that 465 00:31:25,057 --> 00:31:29,065 Egypt would succeed in this severe 466 00:31:29,065 --> 00:31:32,148 exam. And some of the Western 467 00:31:33,048 --> 00:31:36,094 papers sugguested that the Egyptians 468 00:31:36,094 --> 00:31:39,097 cultivate the Suez Canal area with 469 00:31:40,024 --> 00:31:43,026 potatoes, instead of running 470 00:31:43,026 --> 00:31:47,103 the Suez Canal." Eden is frustrated, 471 00:31:48,003 --> 00:31:53,079 but Nasser feels vindicated. It is now almost three months since nationalization 472 00:31:53,079 --> 00:31:58,164 and the canal is still open for business. It seems Aiden's plans to overthrow Nasser 473 00:31:59,064 --> 00:32:04,119 and wrestle back control of the canal, have failed. The world can see no reason 474 00:32:05,019 --> 00:32:10,073 for war. Then, 475 00:32:10,073 --> 00:32:14,120 on the 14th of October, two visitors from the French Ministry of Defence 476 00:32:15,002 --> 00:32:18,060 arrive to see a gloomy Prime Minister at his country retreat, 477 00:32:18,078 --> 00:32:21,144 Checkers. "The French had invented the following 478 00:32:22,044 --> 00:32:25,129 senario, that Israel should attack 479 00:32:26,029 --> 00:32:29,085 Egypt. There upon, Britain and France, who 480 00:32:29,085 --> 00:32:34,098 had forces in the neighborhood, should say, 'We cannot allow this kind of war because 481 00:32:34,098 --> 00:32:37,160 it will interfere with the Suez Canal, and therefore. 482 00:32:38,006 --> 00:32:41,015 we are going to intervene and hold the two countries apart. 483 00:32:42,005 --> 00:32:43,365 "I happened to be in Paris, 484 00:32:46,087 --> 00:32:48,128 so the Minister of Defense called me in 485 00:32:49,028 --> 00:32:54,120 and says, 'You ever thought about storming over Sinai?' 486 00:32:55,002 --> 00:33:01,096 487 00:33:02,014 --> 00:33:05,099 And that's how it started." 488 00:33:05,099 --> 00:33:07,177 Eden is enthusiastic about this French plan, 489 00:33:08,077 --> 00:33:12,109 not only will he be able to seize the canal, he sees a way to bring about 490 00:33:13,009 --> 00:33:14,056 Nassar's downfall. 491 00:33:14,056 --> 00:33:17,110 "To bomb Egypt, you 492 00:33:18,001 --> 00:33:22,014 create panic within the country, you link this 493 00:33:22,023 --> 00:33:26,058 to an invasion - Israeli invasion, and the new government will emerge 494 00:33:26,058 --> 00:33:30,064 and Nasser will be no more. As Eden is plotting in Britain, 495 00:33:31,018 --> 00:33:34,052 the rest of the world is trying to broker a peace deal at the United 496 00:33:34,052 --> 00:33:34,115 Nations. 497 00:33:35,015 --> 00:33:38,054 Eden has reluctantly sent his foreign secretary, 498 00:33:38,054 --> 00:33:41,078 Selwyn Lloyd, to meet with the French and Egyptians in New York. 499 00:33:41,078 --> 00:33:44,107 To Lloyd's surprise, the talks are going well. 500 00:33:45,007 --> 00:33:48,018 "He desperately hoped he would be able to make 501 00:33:48,018 --> 00:33:51,026 real progress in these talks in the United Nations 502 00:33:51,098 --> 00:33:55,169 and was encouraged by the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Fawzi's, 503 00:33:56,069 --> 00:34:01,147 willingness to talk over the subject." But just as it seems progress is being made 504 00:34:02,047 --> 00:34:05,082 the atmosphere changes, the attitude 505 00:34:05,082 --> 00:34:09,088 of Pireau, the French Foreign Minister, was very ambiguous. 506 00:34:09,088 --> 00:34:13,110 From the beginning, he seemed to be prepared 507 00:34:14,011 --> 00:34:19,016 to get down to real negotiations, but then halfway through, 508 00:34:19,016 --> 00:34:23,069 he seemed to lose interest intirely and we wondered 509 00:34:23,069 --> 00:34:26,163 what was going on and why. Eden, 510 00:34:27,063 --> 00:34:31,130 anxious that no deal is struck in New York, telephones Lloyd and orders him to 511 00:34:32,031 --> 00:34:33,105 abandon the talks immediately. 512 00:34:34,005 --> 00:34:37,079 The Foreign Secretary, feeling he might be close to a solution, 513 00:34:37,079 --> 00:34:40,114 is exasperated. Selwyn Lloyd 514 00:34:41,014 --> 00:34:44,107 probably thought that it was worthwhile continuing with these discussions. 515 00:34:45,007 --> 00:34:48,016 You might say like Hans Blix thought that he could do with a couple more months 516 00:34:48,097 --> 00:34:52,176 of time to decide something very definite about the weapons of mass destruction 517 00:34:53,076 --> 00:34:57,139 but Eden wasn't having any of it." 518 00:34:58,004 --> 00:35:02,033 Eden has another agenda and instructs Lloyd and Logan to travel, 519 00:35:02,069 --> 00:35:05,112 in secret, to a Parisian suburb called Se, 520 00:35:06,012 --> 00:35:09,026 to finalize the plot with the French and Israelis. 521 00:35:09,026 --> 00:35:13,044 Lloyd was desperately disappointed, but felt, 522 00:35:13,044 --> 00:35:17,110 out of loyalty, that he had to do it but it turned his stomach to do it 523 00:35:18,001 --> 00:35:22,087 and he hated it all the way through. The document agreed on here, 524 00:35:22,096 --> 00:35:26,159 known as the Sev protocol, puts down in black and white the covert plan to 525 00:35:27,059 --> 00:35:28,068 invade Egypt 526 00:35:28,068 --> 00:35:32,135 and fool the world. At the end, copies of the protocol are presented for 527 00:35:33,035 --> 00:35:33,111 signatures. 528 00:35:34,011 --> 00:35:38,073 Patrick Dean, a Foreign Office official, signs on behalf of the British. 529 00:35:38,073 --> 00:35:41,165 But Eden does not expect his desire for war 530 00:35:42,065 --> 00:35:45,164 to be confirmed in writing. "We returned late that night and took the 531 00:35:46,064 --> 00:35:50,150 document to him in No. 10 and his immediate reaction 532 00:35:51,005 --> 00:35:56,012 was, 'Oh my god, I never expected it to be signed'." When this document finally emerged, 533 00:35:56,057 --> 00:35:59,135 forty years later, it confirmed how a British Prime Minister 534 00:36:00,035 --> 00:36:03,108 had deceived the world and deliberately engineered a war 535 00:36:04,008 --> 00:36:06,102 in the Middle East. 536 00:36:07,002 --> 00:36:12,561 537 00:36:12,579 --> 00:36:16,640 On October the 29th, the Israelis land a parachute brigade 538 00:36:16,064 --> 00:36:21,089 deep in the Sinai, as agreed at Sev. Nasser is awoken at 4am 539 00:36:21,089 --> 00:36:24,128 and told the news. "You can take that he was surprised 540 00:36:25,028 --> 00:36:29,617 and not surprised. We were predicting 541 00:36:29,869 --> 00:36:34,210 that there would be an action against Egypt, but we have 542 00:36:34,021 --> 00:36:40,024 no information from Israel." But the Israeli advance towards the canal 543 00:36:40,051 --> 00:36:41,052 is a fake, 544 00:36:41,061 --> 00:36:44,106 designed purely to convince the world that the canal is threatened. 545 00:36:45,006 --> 00:36:48,072 "It was about 40 kilometers from the canal or 45 kilometers. 546 00:36:48,072 --> 00:36:51,103 But when you look at big maps then you can say 547 00:36:52,003 --> 00:36:56,008 the drop was not far from the canal. There was enough to fulfill the needs of the 548 00:36:56,053 --> 00:36:56,060 British to say 549 00:36:57,023 --> 00:37:01,088 the canal is threatened." 550 00:37:01,088 --> 00:37:04,157 "We didn't go into the motives and consideration of 551 00:37:05,057 --> 00:37:08,123 France and England because our aims were clear." 552 00:37:09,023 --> 00:37:14,023 The Israeli forces concentrate instead 553 00:37:14,023 --> 00:37:18,092 on destroying the Egyptian army in Sinai which they have long seen as a threat 554 00:37:18,092 --> 00:37:22,181 to Israel's security. The attack takes Nasser's commanders by surprise. 555 00:37:23,081 --> 00:37:26,099 They are quickly overwhelmed and forced to retreat. 556 00:37:26,099 --> 00:37:29,103 The following day, Britain and France 557 00:37:30,003 --> 00:37:35,045 issue their ultimatum as planned at Sev, Israel and Egypt are to cease fighting 558 00:37:35,045 --> 00:37:39,129 or the two Western powers will intervene. Eden knows 559 00:37:40,029 --> 00:37:43,046 this is an ultimatum that Nasser cannot accept. 560 00:37:43,046 --> 00:37:47,095 On the evening of the 30th of October, the ultimatum expires. 561 00:37:47,095 --> 00:37:54,095 562 00:37:57,007 --> 00:38:02,020 Shortly afterwards, Nasser hears planes in the skies above Cairo. 563 00:38:02,083 --> 00:38:07,131 "I was with the Indonesian ambassador and there were the air warning 564 00:38:08,031 --> 00:38:10,460 and then 565 00:38:10,739 --> 00:38:14,773 came the blackout. I listened 566 00:38:15,079 --> 00:38:20,510 and there was the jet airplanes and I said to the Indonesian 567 00:38:20,051 --> 00:38:24,059 ambassador these are British." 568 00:38:24,059 --> 00:38:28,338 Now Nasser realizes just how much Eden is prepared to gamble. 569 00:38:28,869 --> 00:38:32,200 "I hadn't thought at all that Britain would do 570 00:38:32,002 --> 00:38:35,070 any attack against us because it was clear 571 00:38:35,088 --> 00:38:38,089 that any attack against us would effect 572 00:38:38,098 --> 00:38:41,104 the British position all over the Arab countries. 573 00:38:42,058 --> 00:38:45,115 And would mean the end of the British relations and 574 00:38:46,015 --> 00:38:50,019 influence in the Middle East. 575 00:38:50,055 --> 00:38:53,096 As the bombs fall, a frightened Egyptian population 576 00:38:53,096 --> 00:38:56,155 rush to join civilian militias. "Most of us, 577 00:38:57,055 --> 00:39:00,103 the young people, decided that we're going to defend the country." 578 00:39:01,003 --> 00:39:05,049 "We really didn't know what we're gonna do because our training was very cursory. 579 00:39:05,049 --> 00:39:08,928 It included one clip of live ammunition. When we joined, 580 00:39:09,369 --> 00:39:13,310 first thing they did was they give us those cases of Kalashnikov rifles 581 00:39:13,031 --> 00:39:17,590 right out of the boxes with Greece, and they said, 'Okay, here is your rifle.'" 582 00:39:17,869 --> 00:39:21,350 This makeshift civilian army 583 00:39:21,035 --> 00:39:24,043 now waits for the arrival of British paratroopers. 584 00:39:24,043 --> 00:39:27,048 "You hear a lot of fire, people flying 585 00:39:27,093 --> 00:39:30,141 rifles and firing in the air. We don't- 586 00:39:31,041 --> 00:39:35,088 you know, everybody is a parachutist, you know. Any noise you think somebody had just 587 00:39:35,088 --> 00:39:38,092 come from sky. So it was a very very 588 00:39:39,028 --> 00:39:43,057 tense moment and we were scared." 589 00:39:43,057 --> 00:39:46,155 But Cairo, where Talaat Badrawi and other volunteers are waiting 590 00:39:47,055 --> 00:39:51,098 is not the target for the British paratroopers assault. Port Said, 591 00:39:51,098 --> 00:39:55,142 at the mouth of the canal, is where Britain will begin the reconquest 592 00:39:56,042 --> 00:40:03,042 of Egypt. 593 00:40:03,079 --> 00:40:09,113 After five days of aerial bombardment, 668 British paratroopers land in Port Said. 594 00:40:10,013 --> 00:40:16,056 The city quickly finds itself under occupation, 595 00:40:16,056 --> 00:40:20,091 but its population is determined not to give Eden the easy victory 596 00:40:20,091 --> 00:40:24,110 he has anticipated. "And then they landed, 597 00:40:25,001 --> 00:40:28,002 the British landed in Port Said. 598 00:40:28,011 --> 00:40:31,028 So of course we wanted to wipe them out." 599 00:40:31,028 --> 00:40:34,062 "All the people have 600 00:40:34,062 --> 00:40:38,084 arms and guns and machine guns. They shoot at the airplanes 601 00:40:38,084 --> 00:40:41,169 and every Egyptian people are ready to sacrifice himself 602 00:40:42,069 --> 00:40:46,137 in order to- to defend his country." As the resistance mobilizes, 603 00:40:47,037 --> 00:40:50,040 the British Prime Minister is insisting to the world 604 00:40:50,004 --> 00:40:53,091 that his actions are right, legal, and morally sound. 605 00:40:54,027 --> 00:41:00,082 "All my life, I've been a man a man of peace. 606 00:41:00,082 --> 00:41:03,126 Working for peace, striving for peace, 607 00:41:04,026 --> 00:41:07,081 negotiating for peace 608 00:41:07,081 --> 00:41:12,123 and I'm still the same, with the same conviction, 609 00:41:13,023 --> 00:41:16,041 same diversion to peace. 610 00:41:16,041 --> 00:41:19,045 But I'm utterly 611 00:41:19,045 --> 00:41:24,414 convinced the action we have taken is right." 612 00:41:24,819 --> 00:41:26,440 As Eden is speaking, 613 00:41:26,044 --> 00:41:29,092 Port Said is burning. 614 00:41:29,092 --> 00:41:32,098 "There were two streets 615 00:41:33,052 --> 00:41:36,064 I'm Abbas Street and Adadi 616 00:41:36,064 --> 00:41:39,115 Street. These were mainly slums of wooden huts. 617 00:41:40,015 --> 00:41:43,059 So they shot powder 618 00:41:43,059 --> 00:41:47,148 at this homes and they were all set ablaze. One would see so many 619 00:41:48,048 --> 00:41:51,107 homes burned, from the start to the end of the street. 620 00:41:52,007 --> 00:41:56,010 This homes were all burned. 621 00:41:56,001 --> 00:41:59,019 I saw corpses down the streets that nobody 622 00:41:59,028 --> 00:42:02,030 could bury and they brought small wagons, 623 00:42:02,003 --> 00:42:05,031 usually used to sell vegetables, and put six 624 00:42:05,058 --> 00:42:09,086 or seven corpses on every wagon to take them to the graveyard, 625 00:42:09,086 --> 00:42:12,144 in order to be buried there and I saw two corpses 626 00:42:13,044 --> 00:42:16,046 which were flattened to the ground all together. 627 00:42:16,046 --> 00:42:21,078 They were crushed by tanks." 628 00:42:21,078 --> 00:42:26,093 The war is barely a week old, hundreds of Egyptian civilians have already been 629 00:42:26,093 --> 00:42:27,169 killed in the bombing campaign 630 00:42:28,069 --> 00:42:34,091 and more die in the street fighting that follows. 631 00:42:34,091 --> 00:42:36,139 632 00:42:37,039 --> 00:42:41,053 it is at this point that Eden hopes a terrified Egyptian population 633 00:42:41,053 --> 00:42:46,074 will rise up to overthrow Nasser. "They do not understand what Egypt 634 00:42:46,074 --> 00:42:51,095 is. They were completely wrong. The Egyptians were- all of them- were 635 00:42:51,095 --> 00:42:58,095 where at one heart behind Nasser." 636 00:42:59,089 --> 00:43:01,748 "When they feel a foreign threat, 637 00:43:02,549 --> 00:43:05,690 people come together and that's what happened exactly." 638 00:43:05,069 --> 00:43:10,978 The Egyptian Armed Forces may be hopelessly outgunned, 639 00:43:11,599 --> 00:43:14,660 but Nasser and his government remain in Cairo. 640 00:43:14,066 --> 00:43:17,073 Plans are made to begin a guerrilla war, 641 00:43:17,073 --> 00:43:20,100 should the army be overwhelmed. "A popular army 642 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:24,046 to fight in the canals, in the streets, in the countryside, in the ports." 643 00:43:24,046 --> 00:43:28,165 "We were hiding 644 00:43:28,579 --> 00:43:31,770 arms all over the villages, everywhere in Egypt; 645 00:43:31,077 --> 00:43:35,164 So even if the troops, they came to invade Egypt, we will fight- we 646 00:43:36,064 --> 00:43:37,523 will resist." 647 00:43:38,099 --> 00:43:41,173 And to prevent the British taking the canal, 648 00:43:41,839 --> 00:43:45,130 Nassar orders ships to be sunk and the canal blocked. 649 00:43:45,013 --> 00:43:49,202 Eden's invasion has succeeded in obstructing the very waterway 650 00:43:49,319 --> 00:43:53,530 is trying to save and that is in the Prime Minister's only miscalculation. 651 00:43:53,053 --> 00:43:56,092 The Suez Crisis suddenly increases the temperature 652 00:43:56,092 --> 00:43:59,097 of the Cold War. "Burning buildings and bitter street fighting, 653 00:44:00,042 --> 00:44:05,099 signal the release of long, pent-up resentment." 654 00:44:05,099 --> 00:44:07,162 2,000 kilometers away, in Budapest, 655 00:44:08,062 --> 00:44:12,104 the Soviet Union's empire in Europe is threatened by a popular uprising. 656 00:44:13,004 --> 00:44:17,006 "The red star has been ripped, the hated symbol of communism is effaced 657 00:44:17,024 --> 00:44:20,082 where ever found." Nikita Kruschev 658 00:44:20,082 --> 00:44:23,100 sees his ally Nasser coming under attack in Cairo 659 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:27,071 and realizes that Soviet prestige appears to be crumbling 660 00:44:27,071 --> 00:44:30,152 on two continents. "He feels 661 00:44:31,052 --> 00:44:35,106 that the West is taking advantage of him when he is down, 662 00:44:36,006 --> 00:44:39,044 that that British and the French are watching his troubles in eastern Europe 663 00:44:39,044 --> 00:44:42,127 and see that they have an opportunity to deal with one of his allies now because 664 00:44:43,027 --> 00:44:44,058 he is distracted. 665 00:44:44,058 --> 00:44:47,132 His reaction was the reaction of political leader 666 00:44:48,032 --> 00:44:52,063 who is fearful, surprised, and 667 00:44:52,063 --> 00:44:56,107 angry at the same time. Kruschev 668 00:44:57,007 --> 00:45:01,053 uses the city of Budapest to send a bloody message to the West, 669 00:45:01,053 --> 00:45:08,053 as recent research has uncovered. 670 00:45:08,089 --> 00:45:11,094 "We have the Politburo minutes and it makes clear 671 00:45:11,094 --> 00:45:15,973 what's going on here. He wants to send a signal to them that no, Soviet Union is as 672 00:45:16,819 --> 00:45:16,916 powerful as ever. 673 00:45:17,789 --> 00:45:20,835 You cannot mess with me, either in the Middle East 674 00:45:21,249 --> 00:45:26,327 or in Eastern Europe." Then 675 00:45:27,029 --> 00:45:31,112 Kruschev ups the stakes. Lacking conventional forces in the Middle East 676 00:45:31,859 --> 00:45:33,970 to help, Egypt against the British and French 677 00:45:33,097 --> 00:45:37,144 he threatens the West with the doomsday option. "He 678 00:45:38,044 --> 00:45:42,098 said to the world that, don't be surprised 679 00:45:42,098 --> 00:45:46,143 if the consequences of your actions is that nuclear weapons will fall on 680 00:45:47,043 --> 00:45:53,127 London and Paris. 681 00:45:54,027 --> 00:45:55,705 This was the first time they had 682 00:45:57,383 --> 00:45:59,061 ever made a nuclear threat." Suddenly, 683 00:45:59,079 --> 00:46:03,082 it looks like Eden's adventure in Egypt is going to end in Armageddon. 684 00:46:04,009 --> 00:46:09,053 "Somebody had a radio and we heard of that- 685 00:46:09,053 --> 00:46:12,142 that the Russians were threatening 686 00:46:13,042 --> 00:46:17,073 to drop bombs on London, and the Chinese might be about to join in 687 00:46:17,073 --> 00:46:22,106 too. And that moment I did think, this is really going to be 688 00:46:23,006 --> 00:46:28,063 the third world war. 689 00:46:28,063 --> 00:46:31,070 The threat of nuclear war 690 00:46:32,033 --> 00:46:36,072 concentrates minds in Washington, where President Eisenhower is already furious 691 00:46:36,072 --> 00:46:37,113 with the Prime Minister. 692 00:46:38,013 --> 00:46:41,017 "United States was not consulted in any way about 693 00:46:41,053 --> 00:46:44,149 any phase of these actions. Nor were we informed of them 694 00:46:45,049 --> 00:46:48,121 in advance." "He was so angry with the British, 695 00:46:49,021 --> 00:46:53,066 I mean, he was really angry with the British. they'd gone 696 00:46:53,066 --> 00:46:58,117 around his back and colluded with these other guys." 697 00:46:59,017 --> 00:47:02,023 698 00:47:02,023 --> 00:47:05,030 In front of the world, the American Secretary of State 699 00:47:05,003 --> 00:47:08,010 condemns his country's oldest ally. "I doubt that any 700 00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:14,003 delegate ever spoke from this forum with as heavy a heart 701 00:47:14,003 --> 00:47:17,080 as I have brought here tonight." 702 00:47:18,007 --> 00:47:21,054 "Eden had the 703 00:47:21,054 --> 00:47:24,105 awful realization 704 00:47:25,005 --> 00:47:30,079 that he had totally misjudged the American aspect of the affair." 705 00:47:30,079 --> 00:47:34,155 Eden's plans are unraveling fast. He is not anticipated this level of hostility 706 00:47:35,055 --> 00:47:36,116 from the Americans, 707 00:47:37,016 --> 00:47:41,107 nor from his own people. "If he is sincere in what he is saying, then he is too stupid to be a prime minister." 708 00:47:42,007 --> 00:47:46,072 709 00:47:46,072 --> 00:47:50,072 "There was demonstrations in London as big as demonstrations in Egypt." 710 00:47:50,072 --> 00:47:56,095 "And there is only one way in which that they can even begin to restore that tarnished reputation. And that is to get out, get out, get out!" 711 00:47:56,095 --> 00:47:58,144 712 00:47:59,044 --> 00:48:04,383 713 00:48:04,779 --> 00:48:08,140 The world sees photographs which show in grisly detail 714 00:48:08,014 --> 00:48:12,793 the effects of the war on the Egyptian people. As opposition across the world 715 00:48:12,919 --> 00:48:12,986 mounts, 716 00:48:13,589 --> 00:48:17,683 moral in Port Said soars. "People around the world we're backing 717 00:48:18,529 --> 00:48:22,584 you. In the West, we had the public opinion with Egyptians." 718 00:48:23,079 --> 00:48:28,151 And Eden realizes he has fatally miscalculated the reaction 719 00:48:28,799 --> 00:48:31,853 of the Egyptian population to invasion. "If you ask me, 720 00:48:32,339 --> 00:48:38,344 where they afraid? Yes, we were all afraid, because nobody likes to die. 721 00:48:38,839 --> 00:48:43,928 We used to live a daily natural life, but with little commodities. 722 00:48:44,729 --> 00:48:47,811 Limited food but people would stay 723 00:48:48,549 --> 00:48:51,645 at cafes, listening to the radio, encouraging people to resist - 724 00:48:52,509 --> 00:48:58,160 very special atmosphere." 725 00:48:58,016 --> 00:49:02,089 Nasser refuses to go into hiding. He determines instead to rally his people 726 00:49:02,089 --> 00:49:04,090 after Friday prayers at Cairo's 727 00:49:04,009 --> 00:49:08,050 ancient Al Azar mosque. 728 00:49:09,031 --> 00:49:13,088 "We will fight from house to house, from village to village. We will fight and never surrender. 729 00:49:13,088 --> 00:49:18,093 We will fight rather than live humiliated. We will fight to the last drop of blood. We're building our country, our history, our future. 730 00:49:18,093 --> 00:49:21,106 731 00:49:22,006 --> 00:49:27,047 732 00:49:27,047 --> 00:49:34,047 733 00:49:39,068 --> 00:49:43,507 In London, Eden is feeling the strain. He has failed to win the hearts and minds 734 00:49:44,119 --> 00:49:45,670 of the Egyptian people. 735 00:49:45,067 --> 00:49:49,686 Nasser is more popular than ever and now comes the decisive blow. 736 00:49:50,289 --> 00:49:54,292 Britain's currency reserves have been hemorrhaging since the bombing campaign 737 00:49:54,589 --> 00:49:54,656 began, 738 00:49:55,259 --> 00:49:59,283 as dealers all over the world dump sterling. "In those days, 739 00:49:59,499 --> 00:50:03,546 Britain was the banker of the sterling area. Britain saw 740 00:50:03,969 --> 00:50:10,640 immediate danger over the bottom falling out of that." 741 00:50:10,064 --> 00:50:12,151 When Eden appeals to the Americans for financial help, 742 00:50:13,051 --> 00:50:17,110 President Eisenhower makes sure there will be no room for misunderstanding 743 00:50:18,001 --> 00:50:23,001 this time. "Eisenhower's was quite firm, he said as soon as you agree to get out 744 00:50:23,001 --> 00:50:25,062 and really are getting out, we willl help you, but not a minute before." 745 00:50:27,123 --> 00:50:29,184 On the 6th of November, 746 00:50:30,084 --> 00:50:33,130 after nine days of war, Eden has no choice. 747 00:50:34,003 --> 00:50:38,046 With British troops having advanced little over 10 miles down the canal, 748 00:50:38,073 --> 00:50:43,462 the Prime Minister reluctantly calls a cease-fire. If the United Nations will take over 749 00:50:44,119 --> 00:50:45,420 this police action, 750 00:50:45,042 --> 00:50:49,124 we shall welcome, indeed we prefer 751 00:50:50,024 --> 00:50:56,056 that cause to them." 752 00:50:56,056 --> 00:51:03,056 The arrival of United Nations contingents at Port Said 753 00:51:08,019 --> 00:51:12,023 causes a sensation that nearly develops into a riot by excitable Egyptians. 754 00:51:12,059 --> 00:51:15,068 "Of course, 755 00:51:15,068 --> 00:51:19,113 I was jumping with joy. When the last British soldier left, 756 00:51:20,013 --> 00:51:26,072 we used to say, "Go to hell." Plans are made for United Nations troops to 757 00:51:26,072 --> 00:51:28,091 replace the British and French on the ground. 758 00:51:28,091 --> 00:51:31,157 The cease-fire is a humiliating climbdown for Eden 759 00:51:32,057 --> 00:51:35,144 and his commanders. "I have to say 760 00:51:36,044 --> 00:51:40,044 that most of the offices in the regiment 761 00:51:40,044 --> 00:51:44,047 took it as a mortal blow. I think it was 762 00:51:44,047 --> 00:51:47,142 very, very hard all professional soldiers who'd gone into this 763 00:51:48,042 --> 00:51:52,090 enterprise in good faith, thought that this was going to be the final 764 00:51:52,009 --> 00:51:56,013 roar of the British lion and suddenly found it it was just a sort of a 765 00:51:56,094 --> 00:52:01,137 mingy little squeak that achieved nothing." For the prime minister, 766 00:52:02,037 --> 00:52:07,043 the pressure of failure is unbearable. With Britain facing a winter fuel crisis 767 00:52:07,043 --> 00:52:08,121 because of the closure of the canal, 768 00:52:09,021 --> 00:52:12,094 he leaves the country for Jamaica, his health and career 769 00:52:12,094 --> 00:52:15,121 crumbling. So anthony, at the moment of departure may we ask you how you're feeling?" 770 00:52:16,021 --> 00:52:19,112 "The main thing I'm feeling 771 00:52:20,012 --> 00:52:23,045 is that I'm deeply sorry to have to leave 772 00:52:23,045 --> 00:52:27,090 the country at this time." 773 00:52:27,009 --> 00:52:33,448 Five weeks later, he is back but not for long. 774 00:52:34,339 --> 00:52:38,368 Eden never returned to frontline politics and his reputation never recovered from 775 00:52:38,629 --> 00:52:40,657 taking Britain to war in the Middle East 776 00:52:40,909 --> 00:52:45,001 under false pretenses. Britain's reputation was equally damaged. 777 00:52:45,829 --> 00:52:48,916 "Well it was a total utter disaster 778 00:52:49,699 --> 00:52:52,734 and it took us twenty years 779 00:52:53,049 --> 00:52:57,116 to recover our rightful position as someone who was not 780 00:52:57,719 --> 00:53:00,802 lord and master in that area, but a friend 781 00:53:01,549 --> 00:53:05,603 to those states which will emerge after many centuries when we and the French 782 00:53:06,089 --> 00:53:09,146 had ruled the roost." In Egypt, 783 00:53:09,659 --> 00:53:14,754 the Suez Crisis was the making of Nasser. "The 23rd of December, 784 00:53:15,609 --> 00:53:18,664 1956 [unintelligible]. 785 00:53:19,159 --> 00:53:22,232 It was the first day of the liberation of Port Said 786 00:53:22,889 --> 00:53:28,260 and the whole city was out to celebrate victory." 787 00:53:28,026 --> 00:53:31,075 "At that time, he was, you know, he was God, I have to tell you." 788 00:53:31,075 --> 00:53:34,158 "President Nasser is a historic hero." 789 00:53:35,058 --> 00:53:39,141 In the aftermath of the Suez Crisis, 790 00:53:40,041 --> 00:53:44,098 Nasser was fated all over the Arab world. Here at last was a leader who could 791 00:53:44,098 --> 00:53:45,130 stand up to the West 792 00:53:46,003 --> 00:53:49,030 and win. "And the Arabs at that time 793 00:53:49,057 --> 00:53:53,099 started to realize that Nasser was hero, 794 00:53:53,099 --> 00:53:56,111 who was sent by god 795 00:53:57,011 --> 00:54:00,040 to retrieve the Arabs from 796 00:54:00,004 --> 00:54:04,004 many years of subordination." "Nasser, 797 00:54:04,004 --> 00:54:08,077 in a sense, was a big winner but with a win which set him up 798 00:54:09,013 --> 00:54:14,058 to be an awfully big loser because Nasser eventually came to believe his own 799 00:54:14,058 --> 00:54:14,135 propaganda that 800 00:54:15,035 --> 00:54:19,064 he had won a great battle." A little over 10 years later, 801 00:54:19,064 --> 00:54:23,088 Nasser decides that he is strong enough to settle old scores with the Israeli 802 00:54:23,088 --> 00:54:25,089 invaders of 1956. 803 00:54:25,098 --> 00:54:28,141 "In 1967, he said, 'Last time, 804 00:54:29,041 --> 00:54:32,116 we were fighting Israel, Britain, and France. We won then, 805 00:54:33,016 --> 00:54:38,068 this time, Israel is alone." 806 00:54:38,068 --> 00:54:41,147 It is an appalling misjudgment. "In the Sinai desert, 807 00:54:42,047 --> 00:54:45,075 in the wake of Egypt catastrophic retreat, line Nasser's 808 00:54:45,075 --> 00:54:50,121 wrecked tanks. The whole world hopes, that from great victory and utter defeat, wisdom 809 00:54:51,021 --> 00:54:52,093 will emerge and bring lasting peace 810 00:54:52,093 --> 00:54:55,170 to this part of the world." 811 00:54:56,007 --> 00:54:59,051 But instead of peace coming to the Middle East, 812 00:55:00,014 --> 00:55:03,045 the unresolved issues at the 1967 war, 813 00:55:03,045 --> 00:55:07,076 the West Bank, and Gaza Strip, still poison the region today. 814 00:55:07,076 --> 00:55:11,080 815 00:55:12,016 --> 00:55:16,045 The end of the Suez Crisis was also the moment a new power decided to take 816 00:55:16,189 --> 00:55:16,287 center stage 817 00:55:17,169 --> 00:55:21,400 in the Middle East. Within weeks at the end of the war, 818 00:55:21,004 --> 00:55:24,080 President Eisenhower, convinced that the British and French could no longer be 819 00:55:25,016 --> 00:55:27,665 trusted to protect Western interests in the region, 820 00:55:27,809 --> 00:55:30,855 announces a fight for change in American policy. 821 00:55:31,269 --> 00:55:36,272 He concludes that what the Middle East needs is more American involvement 822 00:55:36,299 --> 00:55:41,367 not less. The Eisenhower doctrine said we're going to safeguard any country 823 00:55:41,979 --> 00:55:45,032 which is threatened by Communism within the Middle East. That's the old idea of 824 00:55:45,509 --> 00:55:49,510 you're either with us in Washington or with us in Moscow and cuts out a third way 825 00:55:49,519 --> 00:55:49,614 for Arab Nationalism. 826 00:55:50,469 --> 00:55:53,502 The very factors which lead the Americans keep their distance 827 00:55:53,799 --> 00:55:56,890 from Britain's in moving to aggressively against Nasser in 1956, 828 00:55:57,709 --> 00:56:00,772 they lose sight of those." "The occasion 829 00:56:01,339 --> 00:56:04,417 has come for us, to show our deep respect for the rights 830 00:56:05,119 --> 00:56:08,125 and independence of every nation, however great, 831 00:56:08,179 --> 00:56:11,185 however small. We seek not violence, but peace. 832 00:56:11,779 --> 00:56:15,480 833 00:56:15,048 --> 00:56:17,100 It is a policy which echoes from Suez 834 00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:21,014 to today. "States like these 835 00:56:21,014 --> 00:56:24,048 and their terrorist allies constitute an 836 00:56:24,048 --> 00:56:28,617 axis of evil. I will now wait on a bench while dangers gather. 837 00:56:29,049 --> 00:56:32,049 The United States of America will not permit 838 00:56:32,049 --> 00:56:35,390 the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us 839 00:56:35,039 --> 00:56:41,748 with the world's most destructive weapons." 840 00:56:42,099 --> 00:56:47,760 "This is not the time to falter, this is the time for this house to give a lead, 841 00:56:47,076 --> 00:56:50,115 to show that we wil,l stand up for what we know to be right 842 00:56:51,015 --> 00:56:54,016 to show that we will confront the tyrannies 843 00:56:54,016 --> 00:57:01,016 and dictatorships and terrorists who put our way of life at risk." 844 00:57:02,021 --> 00:57:03,025 "The fact of the matter is 845 00:57:03,025 --> 00:57:07,091 that Iraq could turn out in the long run to be a Suez fifty years later. 846 00:57:07,091 --> 00:57:10,800 But where as that will take years to find out with Iraq, with Suez, 847 00:57:11,619 --> 00:57:17,270 we found it out within a matter of weeks." 848 00:57:17,027 --> 00:57:21,052 Ordinary Egyptians have drawn their own lessons from the Suez Crisis. 849 00:57:21,052 --> 00:57:25,057 "There is a great difference between resistance 850 00:57:26,002 --> 00:57:29,015 and terroism. 851 00:57:29,015 --> 00:57:36,015 I was a patriot, defending my country. 852 00:57:36,026 --> 00:57:39,068 The spirit of resistance is deeply rooted 853 00:57:39,068 --> 00:57:44,114 in our country and in the area." 854 00:57:45,014 --> 00:57:48,040 "When the US and Britain went into Iraq 855 00:57:48,004 --> 00:57:52,963 with the idea of being accepted with open arms and so on, 856 00:57:53,359 --> 00:57:57,260 that was a very stupid idea. I mean 857 00:57:57,026 --> 00:58:00,035 where did they ever come up with that idea. I don't know. They could have looked at the 858 00:58:01,016 --> 00:58:04,063 history books; they could have looked at the Suez Crisis, you know. 859 00:58:04,063 --> 00:58:07,100 Which is after all, it's only fifty years ago and they 860 00:58:08,000 --> 00:58:11,088 could have learned that this will never happen, it will never happen. 861 00:58:11,088 --> 00:58:15,165 You know, people will defend the country they would defend their land." 862 00:58:16,065 --> 00:58:19,133 "I am a human being, I have dignity. I don't 863 00:58:20,033 --> 00:58:24,089 except any foreigner to dominate me or at else, 864 00:58:24,089 --> 00:58:31,089 I am a slave. Right or wrong?" 865 00:58:39,008 --> 00:58:42,046 866 00:58:43,018 --> 00:58:46,027