The Other 'Gulf War' -- The British Invasion of Iraq in 1941
Abstract
The present debate over "regime change" in Iraq conceals a little known irony -- it offers a cast of characters and a reprise of arguments that shaped an earlier invasion of that country. The invasion in question was not the Gulf War of 1991 -- rather, it was the British invasion of 1941. In May 1941, in the midst of a World War, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered his reluctant Commander-in-Chief Middle East, General Sir Archibald Wavell, to march on Baghdad to effect a "regime change." The British Prime Minister's arguments reflected many of those same concerns expressed today by members of the George W. Bush administration: British intervention would "pre-empt" Axis support for Rachid Ali, a violently anti-British Arab nationalist whose government threatened Britain's strategic position in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. It would strike a blow at a terrorist challenge orchestrated by a charismatic Islamic cleric. British intervention also would protect oil reserves vital to the British war effort. Furthermore, Churchill was willing to wave aside offers of third-party mediation in favor of a "unilateralist" approach. Conversely, Wavell's arguments against an invasion of Iraq mirrored contemporary objections -- he simply lacked the resources to add Iraq to an impossibly extensive list of military commitments. A military attack, Wavell believed, would make Britain's position in the Middle East less, not more, secure. Better let sleeping dogs lie and take care of pressing business elsewhere. In some essential respects, the current U.S. posture against Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden offers a reprise of Churchill's 1941 crusade against Rashid Ali and the Grand Mufti. Three fundamental arguments advanced to support the call for "regime change" in Iraq mirror points made in a different but in many ways eerily similar historical context by Churchill over 60 years ago.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 02, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA485156
Entities
People
- Douglas Porch
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School