| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Abu Ali" |
| Date: |
20 Nov 2003 01:45:43 AM |
| Object: |
Iraq's Liberation in Perspective |
Iraq's Liberation in Perspective
By AHMAD FARUQUI
Iraq--the cradle of civilization and fabled seat of the Abbasid Khalifa--is
about to be liberated for the second time in less than a century. The
current military operation represents a major inflection point in its
history, perhaps in the history of the Middle East, and possibly in world
history. Future historians will judge how Iraqis will greet the new
liberators. But historians have already passed judgment on the first
liberation.
On March 11, 1917, Lieutenant-General Sir Stanley Maude and his Anglo-Indian
Army of the Tigris entered Baghdad. The campaign to invest Baghdad took
place against the backdrop of the First World War. It seemed to have had no
clear strategic objectives except the fulfillment of the new prime minister'
s desire to capture the fabled city of the Arabian Nights. In retrospect,
the invasion of Iraq gave the government of Lloyd George the opening to
invade Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.
The campaign was the brainchild of Sir Mark Sykes of the Arab Bureau in
Whitehall, a novice with less than two years of executive experience. Sir
Mark asked General Maude to read out a proclamation couched in "high-flown
phrases of liberation and freedom, of past glory and future greatness,"
according to British historian David Fromkin.[1]
The commanding general commanding assured the people of Iraq, "Our armies do
not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as
liberators." He continued, "O people of Baghdad, remember that for 26
generations you have suffered under strange tyrants who have endeavoured to
set one Arab house against another in order that they might profit by your
dissensions." [2]
It proved difficult to govern Iraq and General Maude was put in the awkward
position of having to preach self-rule while discouraging its practice. He
cabled London that local conditions did not permit employing Arabs in
responsible positions, "Before any truly Arab facade [sic] can be applied to
edifice, it seems essential that foundation of law and order should be well
and truly laid."
What General Maude had discovered was that Mesopotamia was a place where 75
percent of the population was tribal "with no previous tradition of
obedience to any government," and a place with a long history of power
struggle between the Shias and the Sunnis. Eventually, vague rumors,
constant unrest, and repeated killings took their toll on British nerves.
Three young army officers were killed in Kurdistan in 1919. An experienced
official sent by the Government of India to replace them was killed a month
later. Six British officers were killed in the spring of 1920. Later, two
political officers were abducted and murdered. The Iraqi desert was full of
raiding parties, and one British officer was led to believe that the only
way to deal with the disaffected tribes was "wholesale slaughter."
More chaos was to follow in the months to come. Posts were over-run, British
officers killed and communication killed in the Middle Euphrates region.
Colonel Gerald Leachman, a leading British officer, was shot in the back and
killed on the orders of the tribal sheikh who was hosting him during a
gathering of the tribes. The news of his killing led to further tribal
uprisings along the Euphrates and north and west of Baghdad.
In the summer of 1920, a one-time junior officer in the Arab Bureau in Cairo
and now a celebrity, Colonel T. E. Lawrence, commented acridly that the
Turks had been better rulers. He said the Turks kept 14,000 local conscripts
employed in Iraq and killed an average of 200 Arabs in maintaining the
peace. The British had deployed 90,000 men, with airplanes, armored cars,
gunboats and armoured trains, and killed about 10,000 Arabs in the summer
uprising.
On August 7, 1920, The Times demanded to know "how much longer are valuable
lives to be sacrificed in the vain endeavour to impose upon the Arab
population an elaborate and expensive administration which they never asked
for and do not want?"
The revolt was brought to an end in February 1921, but Britain had suffered
nearly 2,000 casualties, including 450 dead. Many attempts were made to
analyze the mysterious revolt in the Iraqi desert, since the British had
been told that the Arabs would appreciate British rule. Confessing total
ignorance about the locals, an official argued that the enemy facing the
British was "anarchy plus fanaticism, devoid of any political aspect."
The Mesopotamian provinces of Baghdad and Basra were the first to be
conquered by the British from the Ottoman Empire. In the autumn of 1917
General Sir Edmund Allenby invaded Palestine and on December 11, he and his
officers entered the holy city of Jerusalem through the Jaffa Gate. Prime
Minister Lloyd George regarded it as a Christmas gift, and wrote that
Christendom had regained "possession of its sacred shrines." French General
Henri Gouraud entered Damascus in July 1920. After kicking Salahuddin's
tomb, Gouraud exclaimed, "Awake Saladin, we have returned. My presence here
consecrates the victory of the Cross over the Crescent."
In a few years, the Arabs were rioting in Palestine and rebelling in Iraq at
a very inconvenient time, when the economy of the Empire was collapsing and
when the Crown's time, energy and resources were needed to revive it. An
exasperated Winston Churchill, who had taken over the mantle of Britain's
colonial policies in the Middle East, was to tell the British government
that it was spending millions for the privilege of sitting atop a volcano.
Lamenting on the British experience in Palestine, the "last lion" was to
write, "At first, the steps were wide and shallow, covered with a carpet,
but in the end the very stones crumbled under their feet."
Much has changed during the past century. A former colony across the
Atlantic has eclipsed Britain, and is the new home to an empire on which the
sun never sets. The armies of the new empire are now invading Iraq, with the
armies of the old empire in tow. The soldiers are marching in, bearing the
gift of democracy. However, unlike General Maude, General Franks will not
ride into Baghdad on horseback, but in the air-conditioned comfort of modern
armored vehicles, after having used the firepower of five aircraft carriers
to invest Baghdad.
The tactics of liberation have changed as the empires have changed places,
but the objectives remain the same. Iraq remains the lynchpin to the Middle
East, and whoever controls Baghdad will control the Middle East.
As the French say, "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
Ahmad Faruqui is an economist. He can be reached at:
[1] David Fromkin, A Peace To End All Peace, Avon Books, 1989.
[2] Quoted in Stephen Fidler, Financial Times, March 14, 2003, p. 4.
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| User: "Jack" |
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| Title: Re: Iraq's Liberation in Perspective |
20 Nov 2003 06:39:12 PM |
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"Abu Ali" <kingshirov@yahoo.com> wrote
Iraq's Liberation in Perspective
By AHMAD FARUQUI
Great!
Jesus in the Talmud as Written by Jews..
The Talmud (Babylonian edition) records other "sins" of "Jesus the
Nazarene":
1) He and his disciples practiced sorcery and black magic, led Jews
astray into idolatry, and were sponsored by foreign, gentile powers
for the purpose of subverting Jewish worship (Sanhedrin 43a).
2) He was "sexually immoral", worshipped statues of stone (a brick is
mentioned),was cut off from the Jewish people for his wickedness, and refused to
repent (Sanhedrin 107b; Sotah 47a).
3) He learned witchcraft in Egypt and, to perform miracles, used
procedures that involved cutting his flesh — which is also explicitly
banned in the Bible (Shabbos 104b).
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| User: "Jez" |
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| Title: Re: Iraq's Liberation in Perspective |
20 Nov 2003 11:50:08 AM |
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"Abu Ali" <kingshirov@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:bphrkp$1o273t$1@ID-31123.news.uni-berlin.de...
Iraq's Liberation in Perspective
By AHMAD FARUQUI
Great post !!
Thank you !
--
Ho hum
Jez
"Few of us can easily surrender our belief that
society must somehow make sense. The thought
that the State has lost its mind and is punishing so
many innocent people is intolerable. And so the
evidence has to be internally denied."
- Arthur Miller
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| User: "FatherFAK" |
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| Title: Re: Iraq's Liberation in Perspective |
20 Nov 2003 04:25:21 AM |
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"Abu Ali" <kingshirov@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<bphrkp$1o273t$1@ID-31123.news.uni-berlin.de>...
Iraq's Liberation in Perspective
By AHMAD FARUQUI
<Excellent and informative post snipped for brevity>
As an American soldier currently deployed in Iraq, I must say that
from what I have seen there seems to have been a grievous lack of
"homework" donebefore this operation started. I believe it was
necessary, but not necessarily as hastily as it was executed.
FatherFAK
aa#2096
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| User: "kuff \Isaac Adams" |
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| Title: Re: Iraq's Liberation in Perspective |
20 Nov 2003 08:26:36 AM |
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"FatherFAK" <brian.kinser@us.army.mil> wrote in message
news:d3335a07.0311200225.7a7177ce@posting.google.com...
"Abu Ali" <kingshirov@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:<bphrkp$1o273t$1@ID-31123.news.uni-berlin.de>...
Iraq's Liberation in Perspective
By AHMAD FARUQUI
<Excellent and informative post snipped for brevity>
As an American soldier currently deployed in Iraq, I must say that
from what I have seen there seems to have been a grievous lack of
"homework" donebefore this operation started. I believe it was
necessary, but not necessarily as hastily as it was executed.
The planning does seem to have been rather poor. I suppose such an eventuality
was "telegraphed" ahead of time give what we now know about the quality of
pre-war intelligence.
Good luck to you.
FatherFAK
aa#2096
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