Following are excerpts from a show featuring Egyptian General [ret.] Ahmad Mansouri, which aired on Mayadeen TV on July 13, 2012.
Interviewer: "Do you believe that if something happens, the Iranians and Syrians will take simultaneous action?"
Ahmad Mansouri: "Both Iran and Syria will take action. Don't forget that President Mohamed Morsi said: "We heed the call of Islam! We heed the call of Arabism!" with regard to the revival of the joint Arab defense agreement. The Egyptian military will not leave the powerful Syrian Arab army alone in the battlefield.
"This may be a good opportunity for Israel to learn that when Egypt and Syria unite, the end will be like in the days of Saladin.
"Moreover, the US must never forget the humiliation and harsh lesson that it was taught in the days of President Carter, when Iran humiliated America for 400 days in the US embassy affair. The US must never forget this lesson. It must never forget how its airplanes and helicopters collided. Today there is a fourth version of the Sejjil missile... Back then, a barrage of missiles rained down upon the US forces, humiliating and terrorizing them in Iran. Let's not forget that."
Interviewer: "I'd like you to clarify that point, which comes as a surprise to me and to many others. I think that you find this surprising too. So you're saying that if Israel targets Syria, the Egyptian army will take action? Is this your assessment, or are you hoping that the Egyptian armed forces will not abandon another Arab army?
"It should be noted, with all due respect, that wars did take place over the past two decades, and that Israel did target an Arab land, in Lebanon, as well as pummeling Gaza, yet the Egyptian army did not intervene.
"It seems that this time, you are promising us something else. Is this wishful thinking, or is it based on information and on your assessment that the Egyptian army may intervene?"
[...]
Ahmad Mansouri: "What happened in the past will not happen again. President Mohamed Morsi said at Tahrir Square and elsewhere: "We heed the call of Islam! We heed the call of Arabism!" The joint Arab defense agreement will be activated, Allah willing."
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