Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian presidential candidate scientist Muhammad Al-Nishai, which aired on Al-Nas TV on December 9, 2011.
Muhammad Al-Nishai: "I was very angry at Saddam Hussein. I wanted to say to him: You idiot! If you hadn't mentioned your [WMDs], they would never have attacked you. They attacked him and occupied Iraq only when they were sure that he didn't have nuclear bombs. If he had any sense, he would never have let them hold monitoring activities. They would have been afraid, just like they are afraid to attack Iran today. They will not attack Iran or [North] Korea. They only attack the weak, believe me.
"I lived in Europe all my life, since I was 12 years old. I love them as human beings. Didn't our Lord create the English, just like He created me? But to tell you the truth, I am no fan of theirs, especially when it comes to their moral values. Whenever they need money, they are capable of attacking any country to steal what they want. Then they leave and go back to being very good people. No, the truth is that it is possible that familiarity breeds contempt.
"I have become accustomed to the Europeans and the Americans, to the point that I can say that the great respect that they show for Dr. Zewail and Dr. ElBaradei makes me both happy and worried. It makes me believe that these two do not qualify to lead an Arab Muslim state. [...]
"When people say that [Naguib Mahfouz] is the only Arab author who managed to win the Nobel Prize... What is this nonsense? Even though we are the ones who speak Arabic, those people in Stockholm presume to tell me that the Arabic language is an elevated literary language?
"These psychological complexes have reached an inconceivable level. On the committee that determines who will receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, there is not a single person who speaks or reads Arabic, or who read Naguib Mahfouz's works.
"They chose Naguib Mahfouz for the wrong reasons. Naguib Mahfouz did not support the Egyptian revolution of July 23 [1952]. He supported the Wafd Party. I love [the 1952 revolution], even though my father was harmed by it. I loved Gamal Abdel Nasser.
"Naguib Mahfouz did not want the Suez Canal to be nationalized. I did want it to be nationalized. [...]
"When I saw the news about the killing of bin Laden, I said... The Secretary of State came and sat down next to... What's his name?... the U.S. President... Barack Obama. They both sat and looked at the TV this way... So I said: 'Who's the American director who directed such a beautiful scene?' They built a house just like Bin Laden's, they brought someone who looks like him, and we watch something that didn't actually happen in Pakistan. It will turn out that it was in Washington..."
Interviewer: "In Hollywood."
Muhammad Al-Nishai: "The Americans excel in these matters. They have an amazing imagination. They built Hollywood, which creates a reality that is greater than reality. If you watch 'The Ten Commandments' by the film director Cecil DeMille, you say that's exactly how it was in history - the way Cecil DeMille described it."
Interviewer: "The film 'Air Force 1' portrayed the U.S. President as a brave hero, whereas George Bush ran to hide the moment they attacked the Twin Towers. Until his mother said: 'Come back, boy...'"
Muhammad Al-Nishai: "Even his mother was surprised when they made this idiot president."
