Military Career
After finishing grade school, Amer attended the Cairo Military Academy and was commissioned into the Egyptian Army in 1939.
Amer played a leading role in the military coup that overthrew King Farouk in 1952 and which brought General Muhammad Naguib and Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser to power. The following year, Amer was made Egypt's Chief-of-Staff, bypassing four military ranks. In 1956, Amer was appointed commander-in-chief of the joint military command established by Egypt and Syria. He also led Egyptian forces against both Israeli and allied British-French forces during the Suez Crisis.
In 1964, Amer was made first vice-president to Nasser and deputy supreme commander, with the power to rule for 60 days if the president was incapacitated. Amer's distinguished career came to a sudden end after Egypt's crushing defeat by Israel in the Six-Day War of June 1967. Many historians have stated that much the Egyptian military's failures in the 1967 war can be laid at the feet of Amer. This is because Amer's control of the Egyptian military establishment followed in line with leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser's general policy of presenting different government institutions as fiefdoms to those most loyal to him. In addition, the proxy war Egypt (with Soviet backing) fought against the Saudis, West, and Israelis in the North Yemen Civil War (1962–1970), Nasser supporting the Yemen Arab Republic against the Western and Saudi Arabian backed Royalists, is also viewed as being key to Egypt's defeat in the 1967 Middle East war; as nearly half of the Egyptian military was in Yemen at the time of the initial Israeli attack on Egypt.
When Amer heard of the fall of Abu Ageila to Israel, he panicked and ordered all units in the Sinai to retreat. This order effectively meant the defeat of Egypt. He was relieved of all his duties and forced into early retirement.
Read more about this topic: Abdel Hakim Amer
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