It is highly unlikely that the United Arab Republic of Egypt, Syria and Yemen and the Arab Federation of Jordan and Iraq will come to blows militarily, informed circles here believe.
On the basis of informed estimates, it was reported that the Cairo-Damascus axis has 190, 000 troops under arms, including five infantry and almost two armored divisions, plus 150 MIG fighters and Ilyushin bombers from the USSR. The federation, supplied by the West, has one armored division, 70 British manufactured jets and 90, 000 troops under arms in four infantry and one armored division.
The difference in manpower and materiel, experts here believe, does not give the UAR an edge over the Hashemite bloc. The latter has the advantage of geographic position–their borders are contiguous while Syria and Egypt are separated and Yemen isolated at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula. As a result of this “balance” there is little likelihood of military action but a good deal of political chipping away at each other’s position and the possibility of a military operation only to deliver the coup de grace.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
