The war we fought
Today is the 34th anniversery of the much-acclaimed (in Egypt) 6th of October war (which took place in 1973). The 6th of October is, and has been, a National Holiday since the war. It is also the day that former Egyptian president Anwar El-Sadat was assassinated by a group of Islamic extremists during the 1981 6th of October Military Victory Parade.
So my grandmother was watching Good Morning Egypt and the two female anchorwomen had an Egyptian physician as a guest. They were discussing a number of things, including a prosthetic joint that this physician had developed and that, according to him, is considered the most advanced in the world at this point in time.
What really irked me though is what the anchors started babbling on about at the end of the segment; the gloriousness of the 6th of October war. Now, it has to be understood that this happens annually, on every 6th of october day (Most Egyptians who watch Egyptian or Arab television on this day know of this). This time though, for some inexplicable reason, I payed more attention to what they were saying, particularly that the Egyptian physician in question had participated in the 1973 war.
One of the anchors asked the physician about his feelings on the war and how it felt, as an Egyptian, to have been a member of the Egyptian armed forces during this glorious war. The man, predicably, went on about how he was honored to be part of such an event etc etc
The anchors, before bringing this segment to a close, went on about how we should let all the youth know of the 6th of October war and how it was a monumental event in the history of Egypt. She said that this “education” should start at home with parents informing and educating their children on the lessons from the war and how it brought together all Egyptians as one people and, of course, of the “glorious” role the Egyptian Armed Forces played in securing our lands and winning back all the land lost in 1967.
WTF!!
I don’t need to discuss how the 6th of October war, whilst a strategic victory for Egypt, was not quite the military annihilation of the Israeli Armed Forces the Egyptian government’s propaganda machine claimed and still claims it was. I will not delve into the fact that the 1967 obliteration of our Military facilities and complete and utter destruction of our Air Force (not to mention the complete Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula) was the fault of our Armed Forces… so it really was the duty of the military as an institution and the Egyptian government (being a de facto military government) to return all occupied Egyptian lands because this, as well, should be as clear as day.
What annoyed me was that the military junta in power today (I can’t claim to know much about Sadat’s time since the dude was assasinated a couple of month before my birth) insists, to this day, on exploiting the 6th of October day and milking it for all it’s worth to subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) manipulate the minds of Egyptians into thinking that without the military establishment, Egypt is worth jack sh*t.
Please keep in mind that our current President was Air Marshal (most senior-ranked officer in the Air Force) at the time of the war. He supposedly led the first strike (where hundreds of Egyptian military planes carried out supposedly precision strikes against Israeli strategic and tactical targets, including early-warning stations, in Sinai at 2 pm on the 6th of October in 1973 (He is frequently praised for this even outside of the occasion of the 6th of October. In fact, non-Egyptians wouldn’t be mistaken in thinking that “Leader of the October Air Strike” is an official title of Moh’d Hosni Mubarak.
Why in bloody hell are Egyptians as a people, 34 years after the event, commemorating on such a wide scale a war which wasn’t even a complete military victory?! Why is this THE event (according to the Egyptian government-owned media) that is supposed to instill in Egyptians feelings of national pride?!
I should think that the answer is obvious: There isn’t really all that much in the country that we can be proud of. If this were true, they would be flaunting amazing growth rates, high standards of living and how every Egyptian family goes to sleep well-fed, well-clothed and well-sheltered.
But they don’t. Because they can’t. Life is sub-par for most Egyptians; prices are always increasing without the equivalent rise in real wages, the air we breathe is polluted, the public insitutions are amongst the shittiest in the world in terms of getting work done… I could go on forever.
The problem isn’t that we have problems. The Problem is that the Egyptian government attempts to divert the attention of its citizens from things that matter by using under-handed strategies of propaganda perfected, along the ages, by authoritarian regimes globally.
Disgusting.
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Posted: October 6th, 2007 under Criticism, Egypt, War.
Comments: 13
Comments
Comment from Sherif
Time: October 6, 2007, 9:39 pm
October War 1973 is an egyptian victory in spite of the useless words of persons like you who are brain washed with the israeli media lies.
Comment from Faisal
Time: October 7, 2007, 1:26 am
Mashee ya 3am el gamed. We kalamak da ga menain belzabt? Actually, how about this: El Ahram Center for Strategic Studies, a purely Egyptian and government-owned institution, has a very interesting BIG BOOK on the war with pictures, names and numbers.
I suggest you go read it.
Besides, I did say strategic victory AND, furthermore, that wasn’t even the point of the post.
Comment from Asser
Time: October 15, 2007, 3:04 pm
Couldn’t agree more.
Those who dwel permanently in history, painting on pages a better reality never have a “real” future.
Kudos.
Comment from zerocool
Time: October 18, 2007, 12:12 am
’73 was pivotal juncture in world history in general Fasil. Don’t be so hard on the “victory.” The situation room was not in telaviv!!!! It was in DC in particular the conflict was micromanaged by Mr Kissinger himself (an ardent Zionist), as our feckless leader (Richard M. Nixon) was inebriated and in the midst of an FBI query.
Yes, they were “abtal”….Israel will willing admit to the fact that if it was not for Mr Kissinger /Nixon’s care flotilla of tanks and assorted armaments the Jewish state would have been in grave danger.
Awesome blog.
Comment from zerocool
Time: October 18, 2007, 12:13 am
sorry for misspelling your name my friend.
Pingback from “The War we Fought” « Cairene’s Nilometer
Time: October 18, 2007, 11:16 am
[…] Egypt and Military and Politics and Society Cairene 11:16 am I’d previously missed Faisal’s 6 October post. […]
Comment from fully_polynomial
Time: October 25, 2007, 6:31 am
first, let me get it out of the way that i too think the actual war and fighting ‘performance’ is/was quite inflated and is excessively glorified.
but that is so not the point. you mentioned strategic victory. what other kind of victory do you want? to have more men from the other side killed or more equipment destroyed? its not a movie, you know. there was only one goal: get the land back and try to save a little bit of face. for a country that had its ass kicked so bad just 6 years earlier, it does indeed look like a job well done, especially that it eventually accomplished exactly what it sat out to do.
Comment from Faisal
Time: October 25, 2007, 9:18 am
Simply put, and that’s not discounting or refuting anything you’ve said, a military victory would have been nice.
Comment from Mohamed
Time: November 5, 2007, 10:00 am
Keep in mind Faisal that although the victorywas not a complete annailation like you said, it’s still a victory by all accounts, and not just a tacktical one. Th efact is this victory brought back honor and respect to the people who were severly humilated 6 years earlier. Keep in mind that we have to continue celebrating that day. Israel and the west have their own propagande and claim victory for them selves, so if keep quit, the world will slowly forget who really won. Also keep in mind that if it wasn’t for the US interferring, it would have been a complete victory, hell we might have taken Jerusalem back. We kicked them to the stone age, and they never dared to attack us again in 34 years. The conditions the Egyptians live in today, is of their own creation. 20 million living in Cairo and we can’t take down a corrupt system!! If we don’t like it so much, we should do something about it. The preverb says (eah far3anak ya fer3on, al ma laetch eli ylemeny). Fuck these motherfuckers bro, it was a complete victory
Comment from Faisal
Time: November 7, 2007, 11:31 am
I hear ya Mohamed.,, and I don’t disagree at all that the war served it’s aim.
You also make a good point about the propaganda. Still, it would be cool if we can export our war propaganda outside of the borders of the Arab world (and Im not saying you said we shouldn’t or anything to that effect, mind you).
Finally, the proverb does really summarize the whole situation we face… doesn’t it. A sad time for Egyptians.
Comment from Seneferu
Time: November 21, 2007, 4:31 pm
Hi Faisal,
I get what you are saying about moving on and media abuse for propaganda purposes, but add that we also shouldn’t let bad and uninformed tv commentators diminish from what really happened on the ground (but I agree that they do unwittingly do discredit it with their methods). I recommend a book called The October War by field marshal el-Gamasy (chief of staff during the war), it’s very professionally written and not at all propagandistic (since I recall you saying you like reading about armaments and things).
Comment from Hakim Toutounji
Time: February 13, 2008, 1:49 pm
Actually, the 6th October war was a military defeat for egypt and only the intervention of the US stopped the Israeli forces that were 80Km away from Cairo
Comment from Faisal
Time: February 24, 2008, 6:39 pm
Er, you seem to be woefully misinformed. They were 101 km from Cairo… hence the Kilo 101 negotiations.
As for it being a defeat then I find myself thinking one thing: DAMN! Egyptian negotiators must be kick-ass to be able to get all our land back even though we lost more land than we had before the war… according to you that is.
*Sigh* My god man! You’ve brought back me pride in me country.
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