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16. Iraq’s Great Statesman
- Syracuse University Press
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174 16 Iraq’s Great Statesman Three armies in the First World War were on the march to break up the Turkish Ottoman Empire. These three campaigns were spectacular and of staggering consequences. General Allenby marched his army from Egypt into Palestine; Prince Faisal and Colonel Lawrence headed toward Damascus, holding the restless tribesmen in their army together by gold and Faisal’s persuasions; General Maude pushed his army along the Tigris to Baghdad and held out high hopes for this ancient land. When General Maude entered Baghdad, he issued a proclamation that revived life in the valley of dead bones. He pronounced kindling words: “It is the hope of the British government that the aspirations of your philosophers and writers shall be realized, and that once again the people of Baghdad shall flourish, enjoying their wealth and substance under institutions which are in consonance with their sacred laws and their racial ideas.” When the people heard this message of promise, it was as if a breath had entered into them coming from the four winds. Old Mesopotamia was reborn, and its people began to live anew. In addition to General Maude’s proclamation, to which there was a full-time reaction, which even the British had not anticipated, there were other declarations made by the Allies that aroused the hope for independence . In an Anglo-French pronouncement something was said about the establishment of a national government in Iraq. Then, too, President Wilson ’s ideas of the self-determination of nations had seeped in and were known and discussed in surprisingly out-of-the-way places. What this newborn land needed in its infant days when it began to walk toward this intimated freedom was the guidance of a great personality who would so acceptably lead the people that the diversified groups Iraq’s Great Statesman • 175 could be united in loyalty both to himself and to the country. It was a fortunate suggestion on the part of the British that Prince Faisal would meet the requirements, and a fortunate decision of the Iraqis to accept the British suggestion and acclaim him as their first king. I saw King Faisal for the first time at the garden party of the British high commissioner, as he stood in the dignity of his Arab garb, surrounded by high-ranking officials. Some weeks later I met him personally. It was when my husband and I called at the palace on a feast day when he was receiving. This day he was dressed in his military uniform, decorated with braids and medals. “My, but he is handsome!” I said when I wrote down my impressions. I found myself to be the only woman to extend to him the feast greetings . He generously attributed my blunder to my being a franji (a Frank, a Westerner) and acknowledged my good intentions in his kindly way. He shook hands with us, and asked us to sit down with him; and being greatly pleased with the compliment, we talked with him a short time. He said he was delighted to know that we had come all the way from America to open a school and assist in the educational work in his realm, and we in turn told him of some of our plans. At the palace where we met the king, we were first led into the receiving room, where we were served sweets and a sherbert. Here we met a few of the important people of Iraq, especially those who were connected with the palace and associated with the king. From that day on these officials were our friends and were always helpful to us during our long stay in Iraq. Faisal had a background. He was from the revered Hashimite family of Mecca, of the tribe of Quraysh, considered the noblest of the Arabs. The house of the Bani Hashim was the very family of the Prophet, and also the family from which the Abbassid caliphs, who founded Baghdad, had descended. For Faisal to be king of Iraq would link him with the former rulers of the golden age of Islam who had made Baghdad their capital. There was something highly significant in this proffered kingship and strongly appealing to the Arab imagination.He was born May ,,the third son of Husayn, the sharif of Mecca. His mother, who died soon after his birth, was to him a precious memory. He and his two brothers received their education in...