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War:

first, one hopes to win; then one expects the enemy to lose; then, one is satisfied that he too is suffering; in the end, one is surprised that everyone has lost.

Karl Kraus (1874—1936)

Hur man kan försvara sig

Om användning av s.k. konventionella vapen skrev den gamle Plinius:

"I Samosata vid stranden av Eufrat finns ett träsk som frambringar en brännbar gyttja kallad petroleum. Så snart detta kommer i beröring med en fast kropp fastnar det vid denna, och när folk berör det häftar det vid dem när de försöker frigöra sig från det. På så sätt försvarades stadsmurarna då de angreps av Lucullus (i Mitradates krig år 74 f. Kr.).
Trupperna blev brända av sina egna vapen. Vatten får det endast att brinna ännu kraftigare; försök ha visast att elden kan kvävas endast med jord."

"Nafta är av liknande art — detta är namnet på ett ämne som rinner ut som flytande beck i trakten av Babylon och den del av Partien som är belägen i närheten av Astacus. Nafta är nära besläktat med eld, som omedelbart dras till den när den förnimmer naftan. Det var med dess tillhjälp Medea enligt sägnen brände sin medtävlarinna, vars krans tog eld sedan hon nått fram till altaret för att offra."

 (II: 108 i Historia Naturalis)

red line

British influence

During the First World War, Turkey became a German ally and its empire collapsed when British forces invaded Mesopotamia in 1917 and occupied Baghdad.

At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, the group of the of the victorious nations in World War I (the allies) made Iraq, which constituted the former Ottoman states (Wilayat) of Mosul, Baghdad, and Al Basrah) under the British mandate. According to the mandate system system, a territory that had formerly been held by either Germany or the Ottoman Empire was placed nominally under the supervision of the League of Nations with the administration of the mandate given to one of the First World War victorious allied counties, including Britain and France, until the territory is able to govern itself. Iraq was classified as Class A mandates; such types of mandates were expected to achieve independence in a few years.

The creation of the British Mandate in Iraq was officially confirmed at the Allied governments' conference in
San Remo, Italy, in April 1920.
When the Iraqi Arabs learned of this decision in July 1920, they began an armed uprising against the British, whose senior administrator in Iraq drafted a plan for a provisional government of the new state of Iraq. According to the plan in question, Iraq was to be a kingdom with a government directed by a council of Arab ministers under the supervision of a British high commissioner. An invitation to rule the news state of Iraq was offered in August 1921 to Faisal, was elected King of Iraq by a plebiscite in August 1921 winning 96% of the votes.

Full independence of Iraq was not achieved until 1932, when the British Mandate was officially terminated. Iraq joined the League of Nations in the October of that year, and was officially recognized as an independent sovereign state. On Faisal's death in 1933, he was succeeded by his son, King Ghazi I.

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  Update:   2005-12-05 - no more