Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1939-11-02

come a theatre of War? Will tho
ancient Tigris and Eunbr.to.
Rivers once again run red VIA,
blood? Yes, history may repeat
itself but this time with a uecu,-
lar quirk and that quirk hahn.
the Turk and Arab. heredi+. -,
enemies of the Western World
fighting on the side of the WaSt
ern Democracies for the cause Of
Supreme Being against the
armies of the Red and Brown.
shirted irreligious barbarious
hordes.
In the year GA A.. D. the Per.
slams fought to capture Jeusa.
lem, a city then old in tradition
having been built about 34OO BIC
Since the Persian Attack hardly
a year has gone by without see.
ing some sort of a conflict raging
somewhere in the Near East.
Now the whole of Arabia has
been broken up into various king
doms and mandates. ALTHOUGH
there are Independent territories
within the following countries, for
the purpose of explanation my
analysis of the situation will cover
those countries more often seen
in the headlines. Turkey, Iran
formerly known as PERSIA
Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Arabia.
Within this area there is a total
population of approximately
81, 00O, 900.
The armies are not large
in numbers but what they lack in
this respect they make up in their
foreclosures and tenacity. Being
now armed with modern arms and
equipment they present a for
midable barrier against any en-
croachment by the Russians and
Germans, and in the defense Of
their own countries they protect
not only the fabulously wealthy
oil wells and pipe lines, owned
and operated by American, French
and British interests, but guard
zealously the all-important life
line of the British Empire.
To reach the oil fields of Iran
and Iraq the Russians or Ger
mans would have to traverse hun
dreds of miles of mountainous
desert like land. It is very likely
if they were not harassed to
death by the Turkish army, the
terrific heat Of the desert would
so break the morale that by the
time they reached the Mesopotam-
ian area they would have little
backbone left to resist the blood
chilling charges of thousands Of
the Worlds greatest horsemen-
the Arabs.
Hitler's or Stains memory will
not let them forget what hap
pened in this section during the
last World War (when the shoe
was on the other foot) that for
days the Euphrates and TigrlS
River ran red with the blood OF
victims of the Turkish and Arab
ian massacres. Even today only
the wind blown sands of the des-
ert cover mounds that were piled
high with the bodies of those who
died.
Britain's Col. T. E. Lawrence
("Lawrence of Arabia") cemented
Arab friendship with his mother
country. He profted by the mis-
takes made by former imperlalI
lists. He, in fact, was instrumen
tai in pushing to the front, Emll
Feisal, third son of the Grana
Sheriff of Mecca, the King OF the
Hejaz, who was chosen ruler Oh
Iraq by reclamation as a consU'I
tutional democratic sovereign, !
choice subsequently ratified by :
referendum, and was crowned ~
Baghdad August %, 1921.
Although both are now deau.
others carry on the close ties ="
unity knitted together by tnes'
two.
Being blocked from entering D"
land there is left one possible Ou|
highly improbable alternative y
luton. To try an attack froD
the sea. To me this would seem
like mass suicide. First, the Ku'|
sian navy would have to run 1p'|
gauntlet of the Bosporus and 'n,|
Dardanelles. If atheism coui'
have miracles performed, and tnl'
were to happen, their objectlS'
would be to land troops somi
where between Alexandretta Ol
the Northern Syrian frontier aH'
ToHo in Palestine. If another