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CAIRO TO DAMASCUS
enslaves free men, makes a mockery of justice and democracy."
"Those are exactly the reasons why we hate imperialism."
He ripped out the words in explosive Arabic. "It is true that
most of us are not as well educated as you in the West, but
the love of freedom is inborn in man. The lowliest peasant
wants to rule his own destiny. Help us fight imperialism and
we Arabs will help you fight Communism. I swear to you we
will honor this pact."
The impact of his assault, the intensity of delivery, took
me by surprise. It gave an inkling of the way he had handled
the Spanish and the French.
"America is a great and generous country. It means to do
good. But it has helped Communism by encouraging imperialism. If Russia, yes, Communist Russia, promises to help
us achieve independence, we will accept that help. We will
take Russian arms and ammunition, but we will not let her
in our country."
I suspected this was easier said than done, but made no
comment. Instead, I asked: "Are you opposed to British as
well as Spanish and French imperialism?"
The Riff leader's right hand went to his cheek in a thoughtful pose. I wondered why this arch foe of imperialism did not
tear off my ear with an immediate blast.
"We consider British policy as being better than French
or Spanish. We have seen how England gave freedom to India. England is becoming a friend of the Arab world," he
said through Slim.
This sounded too much like Slim. The use of the word
"we" particularly was not typical of Abd el Krim, the desert
chieftain. I wished I had a way of checking Slim's translation.
"If England gave you help against the French, would you
take it?"
"Yes, by all means."
Abd el Krim now shifted ground and took the offensive
again. "We cannot understand American policy. Yon have
helped the Zionists and turned all the Arabs against you.