A Report on Mesopotamia by T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

[kodi]

As if anyone needs to be reminded how history repeats itself.


"By Ex.-Lieut.-Col. T.E. Lawrence

August 22, 1920

"The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad communiques are belated, insincere, incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. It is a disgrace to our imperial record, and may soon be too inflamed for any ordinary cure. We are to-day not far from a disaster.

<snip>

"The Cabinet cannot disclaim all responsibility. They receive little more news than the public: they should have insisted on more, and better. They have sent draft after draft of reinforcements, without enquiry.
<snip>

"Yet our published policy has not changed, and does not need changing. It is that there has been a deplorable contrast between our profession and our practice. We said we went to Mesopotamia to defeat Turkey. We said we stayed to deliver the Arabs from the oppression of the Turkish Government, and to make available for the world its resources of corn and oil. We spent nearly a million men and nearly a thousand million of money to these ends. This year we are spending ninety-two thousand men and fifty millions of money on the same objects.

<snip>

"Our government is worse than the old Turkish system. They kept fourteen thousand local conscripts embodied, and killed a yearly average of two hundred Arabs in maintaining peace. We keep ninety thousand men, with aeroplanes, armoured cars, gunboats, and armoured trains. We have killed about ten thousand Arabs in this rising this summer. We cannot hope to maintain such an average: it is a poor country, sparsely peopled;

<snip>

"We have not reached the limit of our military commitments. Four weeks ago the staff in Mesopotamia drew up a memorandum asking for four more divisions. I believe it was forwarded to the War Office, which has now sent three brigades from India. If the North-West Frontier cannot be further denuded, where is the balance to come from? Meanwhile, our unfortunate troops, Indian and British, under hard conditions of climate and supply, are policing an immense area, paying dearly every day in lives for the wilfully wrong policy of the civil administration in Baghdad.

<snip>

"We say we are in Mesopotamia to develop it for the benefit of the world. All experts say that the labour supply is the ruling factor in its development. How far will the killing of ten thousand villagers and townspeople this summer hinder the production of wheat, cotton, and oil?


http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/history/1920arabia.htm

[ewagner]

1. Great post Kodi

Read also David Fromkin's A Peace to End All Peace .

So much of what is in Fromkin's book as well as T.E. Lawrence's dispatches could be substituted for today's headlines.

I have been absolutely bewildered by the complete ignorance of the history of this region by the State Department (who should absolutely know history) as well as the Dept of Defense (who should at least been aware of history). Why do they ignore it? Arrogance?

Btw....I don't expect that Bush* himself would have any knowledge of this region but I do expect those advising him to be well-schooled in history.

[kodi]

2. a US Army intell officer buddy of mine sent the link to me as a reminder

He and his intell expert buddies are royally pissed at Bush for his Iraq policies, and more furious that their own friends are getting killed for the ignorance of the military leaders.

I dont want to get into a candidate debate here (because I like Howard Dean a lot), but there are a lot of military types that consider Clark the right person to get this country out of the mess in Iraq, and the link that provides Clark's assessment is outstanding in showing Clark's understanding of why and how it happened, and more importantly, how it has to be fixed.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/16650

It's pretty clear that Wes Clark has been influenced by Clausewitz's philosophy on strategy.

The link provided show Clark’s analysis of the US in Iraq is based upon a skillfully application of Clausewitz-type tools and perspectives to dissect what went wrong with there and in the Bush administration.

Whether Clark is discussing the importance of critical observations based upon realistic understandings of human behavior, the need to play out beforehand multiple scenarios in logistics, battlefield tactics, assessing the material and political requirements for “nation-building” or even just in the need to be able to be flexible to anticipate the unexpected, it’s all Clausewitz.

Clark’s (and Clausewitz’s) way of thinking is mentally difficult, but it does force one to consider many options at each step of the road, and what flows from this is a greater understanding of the entire picture and hopefully many more opportunities to be effective in obtaining the stated goals.

Bush hardly plays checkers, Clark and Clausewitz are playing Go at a 10 Dan level.


its like the busheviks never even heard of Clauswitz and his philosophy of strategy, and that is dangerous, because Clausewitz is so relevant to military and political strategies.

[ewagner]

3. I agree

This administration has run on an anti-intellectual platform convincing the public that texas horse-sense is a preferable substitute for education and intellect.

The PNACers in this administration do hold themselves out as great political/social thinkers but they are so incredibly shallow it boggles the mind.

[Solomon]

4. Excellent.

Kick.

[morebunk]

5. This should be published in every major newspaper and magazine in

the US and posted on every major Internet board.

The punch line of an old joke comes to mind: "Ain't nothing changed!"

[protect freedom impeach bush now]

6. .. more things change the more they remain the same

.

[MissMarple]

7. Thanks for the history.

And we do seem to be repeating it.