World: Levantine Laugh-In

Wits rated it with the Suez invasion as one of Britain's more disastrous Middle Eastern ventures. Prime Minister Harold Wilson hastened to disclaim responsibility for the entire affair. The Times of London spoke somberly "of hospitality blasted, of reputations uprooted and of good intentions snatched up and hurled hundreds of yards into limbo." Added the Times: "A deafening silence has descended over the Middle East. Only the occasional soft sounds of a tank battle serve to fill the echoing void that has been left by the return home of Mr. George Brown."

Until...

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