Author Topic: Good Books  (Read 809 times)

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Offline Super Colin Blow

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #30 on: July 30, 2019, 01:00:17 am »
I certainly will. The one by Fromkin mentions the Russian/British intrigues about keeping each other out of Afghanistan so as not to threaten the Raj. Apparently Russia and France were number 1 and 2 on Britain's **** list of the time. The strange lines that were drawn on the present middle eastern map were for the purpose of keeping France and Russia in their proper places (but then Russia w/d from the war before the Sykes-Picot-Sazonov Agreement became the Sykes-Picot pact.)

I know Im getting a bit off topic, but the whole purpose of grabbing Iraq, etc., had nothing to do with oil. It had to do with the protection of the British "lifeline to India" (i.e., the supply line from the Med, through the Suez Canal, around Arabia and up the Persian Gulf). Iran was also partitioned into Russian, British and neutral zones. It might have been suspected Iraq had oil, but no one actually KNEW for a fact that there were gargantuan quantities under Iraq. Or Saudi Arabia for that matter. In the age of the railroads, they wanted a more efficient transport system of troops from the Indian Empire to Med, if need be. Those who say "Churchill wanted oil so he seized Iraq" are putting the cart before the horse. Extremely so.
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