Proclamation
Our military operations have as their object the defeat of the enemy and the driving of him from these territories. In order to complete this task I am charged with absolute and supreme control of all regions in which British troops operate; but our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators …
“It is the wish not only of my king and his peoples, but it is also the wish of the great nations with whom he is in alliance, that you should prosper even as in the past when your lands were fertile … It is the hope of the British government that the aspirations of your philosophers and writers shall be realised once again, that the people of Baghdad shall flourish, and shall enjoy their wealth and substance under institutions which are in consonance with their sacred laws and with their racial ideals …
" … Therefore I am commanded to invite you … to participate in the management of your civil affairs, in collaboration with the political representative of Great Britain … so that you may unite with your kinsmen in the North, East, South and West, in realising the aspirations of your race.”
Our military operations have as their object the defeat of the enemy and the driving of him from these territories. In order to complete this task I am charged with absolute and supreme control of all regions in which British troops operate; but our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators …
“It is the wish not only of my king and his peoples, but it is also the wish of the great nations with whom he is in alliance, that you should prosper even as in the past when your lands were fertile … It is the hope of the British government that the aspirations of your philosophers and writers shall be realised once again, that the people of Baghdad shall flourish, and shall enjoy their wealth and substance under institutions which are in consonance with their sacred laws and with their racial ideals …
" … Therefore I am commanded to invite you … to participate in the management of your civil affairs, in collaboration with the political representative of Great Britain … so that you may unite with your kinsmen in the North, East, South and West, in realising the aspirations of your race.”
From the British Empire to the people of Iraq, 1917.
In all, Britain lost 40 000 men in the Mesopotamian campaign.
As long ago as 1914, a senior British official was told by “local (Arab) notables” that “we should be received in Baghdad with the same cordiality (as in southern Iraq) and that the Turkish troops would offer little if any opposition”.
...Within six months, Britain was fighting a military insurrection in Iraq and David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister, was facing calls for a military withdrawal.
But Lloyd George would not abandon Iraq to “anarchy and confusion”. By this stage, British officials in Baghdad were blaming the violence on “local political agitation, originated outside Iraq”, suggesting that Syria might be involved.
As long ago as 1914, a senior British official was told by “local (Arab) notables” that “we should be received in Baghdad with the same cordiality (as in southern Iraq) and that the Turkish troops would offer little if any opposition”.
...Within six months, Britain was fighting a military insurrection in Iraq and David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister, was facing calls for a military withdrawal.
But Lloyd George would not abandon Iraq to “anarchy and confusion”. By this stage, British officials in Baghdad were blaming the violence on “local political agitation, originated outside Iraq”, suggesting that Syria might be involved.
I think we hit a time warp and are repeating the WWII frame. Something came out wrong, and it has to be righted. What is it?
For Kufa 1920, read Kufa 2004. For Najaf 1920, read Najaf 2004. For Yazdi, read al-Sistani.
For the uncanny rest, read the uncanny rest.
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