The title of this article is lifted from the dedication made in bestselling author Edwin Black’s 2010 book The Farhud: Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust.
This historical account detailing the geopolitical dynamics in what we call the Middle East was sent to me by my sister as a belated Christmas gift. She was prompted to give it to me after she read my article in which I castigated the major powers of the U.S./U.K. NATO block of nations for allowing the ongoing atrocities occurring in Gaza and the other regions of Israel where the Palestinian Arabs are slowly but inexorably being caged into a ghettoized existence terminating in genocidal extinction.
Lest any of my readers think that I am rooting for one side or the other in this deplorable conflict between Arab and Jew, my intent was to frame that piece as a discussion on a humanitarian crisis—one in which we as human beings as a collective—would hopefully have the moral strength to stand up in defense for innocent life.
There is war. And there are war crimes. The overwhelming majority of nations condemn the blatant disregard for international law that has occurred in battling the militants in the Gaza Strip.
More than that. The general theme of the entire series of articles in My Dossier for Armed Freedom is dedicated to informing the reader about the historical roots of Euro-centric empire(s) that to this day stubbornly drive the (often covert) agenda of what is referred to as the Collective, (trans-Atlantic) West—the globalists.
I was not aware of the yeoman author Black who has so prodigiously dedicated a career to exposing the corruption of governments ruled by the inheritors of empires forged in the centuries when leaders were monarchs, emperors, and grand sultans; the type of oppressive tyrannies that finally inspired a small band of independent-minded Europeans and Englishmen/women to imagine a form of government dedicated to Christian principles and the golden rule in considering the welfare of your neighbor, and at least in theory, trying to get along.
In brief; the democratic ideals embodied in the Republic as distinct from autocratic Oligarchy.
Reading the blurb about Edwin Black on the back cover of The Farud:
“…With more than a million books in print, his work focuses on genocide and hate, corporate criminality and corruption, governmental misconduct, academic fraud, philanthropy abuse, oil addiction, alternative energy, and historical investigation.
Editors have submitted Black’s work ten times for Pulitzer Prize nomination…” (emphasis mine).
Hmmm. What is perhaps most telling is the fact that his work was passed over 10 times by a Pulitzer board unable or unwilling to award him the prize in the final analysis. Perhaps, because giving him officially sanctioned accolades –might draw unwelcome attention to the infamy left us by the most recent, early 20th century empires. Or am I reading too much into this?
After all, there is a brooding power that still lurks behind the bureaucratic machinery that keeps the likes of Wikileaks journalist Julian Assange locked up behind bars. There exists a state-run apparatus that keeps whistleblower Edward Snowden exiled in Russia.
It stands to reason that a censorship industrial complex in the hands of the corporate neo-feudalists would not want to award a guy (like Mr. Black), a very prestigious and public display of recognition when he has made it his career to expose the corruption that infests the ruling elites that control so much of the mainstream media outlets.
I am not through reading his entire book, but I did finish with Part I where he affords the reader a comprehensive view of the Middle Eastern geopolitics that led up to WW I and II. His research is supported by an impressive team of academic specialists and scholars using primary sources generously footnoted throughout.
I highlighted some particular passages that give us a very insightful glance into the adroit ways that the British advanced their own priorities in their relations with both the Jews and Arabs. Keeping an eye on the ultimate prize which of course was their laying claim to the oil riches that the Middle East holds, the geo-political methodologies practiced by the Anglos (& Francos) for exploiting the resources of other regions on the globe, is very instructive to understanding the larger picture still relevant today.
“Some members wondered how Britain could morally meddle in another nation’s territory without regard for its inhabitants. “It is almost amusing,” charged MP Arthur Ponsonby, “the way the great powers, when discussing a matter of this sort, consider that they are conferring an untold benefit on the country in question, and the interests of that country, so far as its population is concerned, are entirely disregarded…It has been the policy of the British government too often to concentrate attention on the material development of a country without sufficient regard to the welfare and liberties of the inhabitants to whom the country belongs.” [pg.57]
“…I therefore suggest”, stated [British diplomat] Buchanan, “that in regard to Arabs, our policy should be let Arabs do what they can for themselves and … make such concessions, declarations, and arrangements in Mesopotamia with regard to Arab theory of independence and participation in administration…[But] keep actual terms of provisional government from knowledge [of] Arab leaders. Indeed, during the actual give-and-take of the Sykes-Picot negotiations among the French, British, and Russians, neither the Arab residents of the territories nor their leaders, were ever consulted.”
And on April 28, 1919, the newly formed League of Nations finalized its noble covenant. “Article 22 proclaimed [regarding those] colonies and territories…, which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world…
The covenant [resolved] “The tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their experience or their geographical position can best undertake this responsibility… as Mandatories on behalf of the League. Article 22 specifically referenced “certain communities… can be provisionally recognized [as sovereign nations] subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone*.” [pg. 149,150]
What I will not belabor here is the brutality employed by the occupiers to enforce their mandatory administration upon certain factions within those Arab inhabitants who felt perfectly capable of administering their own affairs without the help of the British overlords.
The technological superiority of the “advanced nations” outgunned the swords and bolt action rifles of the horse-mounted Bedouin tribes charging into machine guns while galloping under merciless aerial strafing by British warplanes.
In theory and within the elaborately constructed legal treaties and pacts made with cooperative sheiks and sultans, Britain [ingloriously] invaded to help the Arabs achieve “national expression”.
In reality, upon further review, using the predicate of Arab “self-determination”, the ingenious and self-serving strategies employed by the Brits had outmaneuvered the French (& German) efforts to aggrandize to themselves a larger portion of the potential oil wealth in what was to become modern-day Iraq.
“The treaty of 1922, in many ways, read like the 1899 protectorate contract with the sheik of Kuwait—protection in exchange for compliance. Except, in this case, it was not the Iraqi nation being protected… The real protectorates were British commercial interests—shipping, railroading, oil exploitation, and pipelines, and they were being protected against Iraq itself”. [pg. 177]
The Palestine mandate granted to Great Britain by the League of Nations was instrumental in laying an oil pipeline for the transport of Iraqi and Persian (Iranian) oil across its territory to the Mediterranean Sea. Completed on January 14, 1935, oil was transported from Kirkuk south to the Haifa coast in Palestine. [pg. 262]
By now, I hope you are wondering where this short history lesson is tracking.
Remember, I was trying to tie in this background examination of how Britain conducted its foreign affairs as reported in Edwin Black’s book to modern practices witnessed in international relations today. Although we are reading about a British empire as it existed over 100 years ago, the business model for capturing controlling interests for commercial gains in dealing with native, indigenous peoples who happen to be sitting on vast resources of oil and mineral wealth has remained largely intact through today.
One big difference is that the United States has now become a major stakeholder in British Commonwealth (Five Eyes) operations and has adopted its imperial bad habits for its own. The so-called ‘special relationship’ between England and the U.S. was (further**) cemented after WW II, between Churchill and Truman.
My lengthy, pull quotes illustrate the following characteristics that have managed to survive as legacy modus operandi or geopolitical drivers of the major powers extant in the West.
1. Pacts, treaties, mandates, etc. are authorized by supranational organizations which establish governance over territories without regard to democratic representation of the inhabitants living in the country affected. Today, the sovereignty of individual nation-states may be superseded by corporate/consortium interests that wield state-level powers.
2. “Concessions, declarations, and arrangements with regard to (Arab) theory of independence and participation in administration…[But] keep actual terms of provisional government from knowledge [of] (Arab) leaders”. Assurances are made that international treaties will not suborn the protections guaranteed in national constitutions (i.e. U.S. Constitution). The Covid mandates and attempts to introduce amendments to the WHO international pandemic treaty permitting a foreign agency to override provisions of national sovereignty are a case in point.
3. “Mandatories”: a euphemism designating/mandating permission of a major European power to exert colonial/military control, governance, and occupation over a specific territory. Palestine was granted a mandatory to be monitored and protected under Israeli law enforcement. Not incidental is the outright hubris implicit in an attitude; “rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone.” The bureaucratic experts and modern-day technocrats know better than we, the common people, how we should run our lives?? (NOT according to Kilroy.)
4. “The real protectorates” are the corporate cartels that prioritize shareholder profits-the special, (today’s donor) class of interests-over the health and well-being of the average citizen. To wit: the ponderous behemoths; Big oil, big pharma, big agro-industrial complex, etc. The corporate cartels of the trans-Atlantic West wield more power than many modern nation-states. The central banking cartels (whose hub is London-based) arguably dictated the rules to everyone and did so with impunity, (until the BRICS came along).
Now what is not under consideration in Mr. Black’s erudite tome is very little discussion of what was occurring in domestic politics within the United States at the time. That was not the main subject at all.
My interest is to weave the history of the British Empire and the way it pursued its global ambitions into the parallels that undergird the agendas of today’s globalists.
The pre-WW I years leaning into the outbreak of WW II cover the presidencies of William McKinley inaugurated in 1897, through the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, taking us to 1945. Both those presidents died while in office. One was assassinated for sure, the other died under a cloud of suspicion. Although official documents report that Roosevelt died a natural death, there is some evidence there could have been foul play.
Only hinted at here, but helpful in making a critical assessment of how the geopolitical machinations operating in the 19th and early 20th centuries survive down to this day, I heartily recommend you continue your reading adventure here.
* It is difficult to include all the nuances and multi-layered factors that tell the stories of the people who lived before us—especially in article format. Part II of The Farhud book goes on to describe the utter contempt with which many Palestinians treated their neighbors, the immigrant Jews. The pogroms and outbreaks of murder visited upon unarmed Jews by the Arab population is a cycle of violence still crying for repentance, resolution, and redemption.
** It probably is not so inaccurate to say that America was rejoined at the hip to its arch-enemy Great Britain (i.e. 1776, 1812, 1861) when it handed over its sovereign credit vouchsafed to the Republic in the U.S. Constitution when the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 was passed which effectively ceded the control of U.S. dollar printing to private banking shareholders based in London.
Bibliography: The Farud: Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust by Edwin Black Copyright 2010 by Edwin Black; ISBN: 9780914153146; www.farudbook.com
Great overview Ken - Good to Know!