"Nightline": 1920 invasion of iraq & parallels today

[gauguin57]

Tonight's "Nightline" (Tuesday) sounds good (reporter Robert Krulwich always delivers interesting reports -- he's a great writer with a wry sense of humor). He'll talk about when the British army invaded Iraq in 1920, and the parallels to today. He'll explain why Iraqis don't consider that invasion ancient history. I plan to watch or tape! (also a discussion of the iraqi flag).

Here's the
Nightline Daily E-Mail
June 8, 2004

TONIGHT'S FOCUS: A foreign army occupying Iraq, and wondering why it wasn't greeted as a liberator. A foreign government trying to figure out who should rule the new Iraq, and how to keep the various factions content. Sound familiar? But this was more than 80 years ago.

... It's been another busy, and bloody, day in Iraq. At the same time, the UN Security Council is expected to vote, probably unanimously, on a U.S-sponsored resolution that would let the new Iraqi government consult on military operations, but not have veto power over them. Again, just what does sovereignty mean?

But we in television news are often accused of having no sense of history. We focus on what is happening in the moment. Live! Late-breaking! This just in! After a while, those terms lose their meanings. But do we cover history? Only in the sense that we watch it go by, and rarely are able, or willing, to put it into context. But of course, there is that old warning, those who ignore history are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. I know I've butchered the actual quote, but the thought is the same. So we're going to try to take a long-overdue crack at that tonight.

Robert Krulwich will look at what happened back around 1920 when a British army had invaded Iraq. You'll hear letters and accounts from that time, and they will sound very current. And if we think this may be ancient history, the Iraqis don't. That's why at demonstrations today you'll hear chants referring back to the "revolution" of that time. Robert will show you old film of those days, but to many of the Iraqi people, that time isn't represented by flickering black and white images. Those issues, and the legacies of those times, are impacting the events of today.

Also tonight, John Donvan will take a look at the Iraqi flag. At least what is now being called the "interim" Iraqi flag. A flag that will probably never fly over much of anything. It's all about symbols, and colors, and history. Just a piece of cloth? Hardly, and in many ways a good indication of how people can share events but live in very different worlds.

So I hope that you'll join Chris Bury tonight for something that we don't do often enough. I think you'll enjoy it.

Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff
Nightline Offices
ABCNEWS Washington D.C.

[elfin]

1. Great! Am reading "Desert Queen" about Gertrude Bell

and her role in determining Iraq's fate during that time. I recommend this book to everyone.

The exact same conversations took place about the region then as now. Very spooky reading. The material mostly comes from her letters home - she was an Arabist, a quasi spy for British interests (until they conflicted with her sentiments for Arabs).

Fascinating stuff - she was a pistol. While everyone has heard of Lawrence of Arabia, few now know of her influence on him and others. A prodigious achievement for a woman in those times.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

4. I Second

your recommendation. "Desert Queen" is an eerie read indeed and a great way to learn more about the history of the region.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

2. Read: Aug.2, 1920 Lawrence of Arabia Report from Mesopotamia. AGAIN!

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/lawrence.php
(T.E. Lawrence's Report from Mesopotamia 1920)
... Could have been written today...

"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.

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 long will we permit millions of pounds, thousands of Imperial troops, and tens of thousands of Arabs to be sacrificed on behalf of colonial administration which can benefit nobody but its administrators?"

[Malikshah]

3. Try Lexis Nexis

THere's an article from the Independent from January that describes US forces using British reports on tribal leaders ----dating from 1918!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wonder if that will come up in tonight's report.