Evening star., 1941-05-03
Crisis in Iruq

Brltain'S military measures to
safeguard its interests in Iraq have
struck a serious snag. The first con-
tingent of British troops landed a
fortnight ago at the port of Basra on
the Persian Gulf without incident,
but the landing of a second and
much larger force has resulted in
open battle between British and Iraqi
troops at the big airport of Habbani-
yah on the Euphrates River west of
Bagdad, the Iraqui capital.
This crisis involves not only the
character of the present Iraqi gov
ernment but also the special nature
of Anglo-Iraqi relations. The for
mer Turkish province of Mesopo-
tamia, renamed Iraq, became Brit
ish protectorate at the close of the
Great War under the technical
status of a mandate from the League
of Nations. The turbulent Iraqis
rebelled so fiercely that direct British
rule gave place to local self-govern-
ment under an Arab prince friendly
to Britain. This worked so we'll that
British diplomacy recognized Iraq'S
independence and engineered its en-
trance into the League
However, Britain Safeguarded its
vital interests in the country by a
treaty which gave the British ex-
tensive rights and privileges, espe-
cially in wartime. 1t is under the
terms of that treaty that British
troops have entered, and though the
Iraqi government has protested, a
study of the treaty text bears out
the British contention that their
present actions are legally correct.
The current crisis has arisen, not
over judicial niceties, but because
the present Iraqi government is not
friendly to Britain and is suspected
of having pro-axis leanings. 1t came
to power only a few weeks ago
through military revolution which
ouSted the former pro- British regime
headed by an uncle of the boy king,
FeiSal II, who is only six years old.
The revolutionary leader, Rashid Ali
Beg Gallant, has long played promi-
nent part in Iraqi politics. He is
strong nationalist, impatient of for
eign influences. Since these are
mainly British, his anti-British slant
was inevitable. Gailani's national
ism is not local; it has a strong
"Pan-Arab" tinge. He is supposed to
have close relations with Ibn Saud,
the enigmatic and powerful ruler of
Desert Arabia, who is known to
cherish dreams of a vast confedera-
ton of all the Arab states, freed of
European control and presumably
under his leadership. 1t may be a
coincidence, but Gailani'S military
coup in Bagdad followed shortly
after a Pan-Arab conference held in
Riadh, SaudS remote desert capital.
Logically, this does not fit in with
current charges that Gallant is pro
axis" in the sense of being a German
tool. However, it does not exclude
the possibility, or even the probability,
that he has flirted with axis agents
and taken axis support, on the prin-
ciple of getting rid of British control
and dealing with subsequent axis
danger if and when it shall evolve.
The British government never
recognized Gailani's regime, though
it has dealt with it on a de facto
basis. A restoration of the pro-Brit-
iSh regent is not improbable. Yet
such move, made by British pres
sure and upheld by British bayonets,
would have serious nationalist roper
cussions beyond Iraq's borders. On
the other hand, Britain's situation in
the Near East is too dangerous for
half measures.