What Britain Learned

Extremists in Iraq, especially in the Sunni areas around Falluja and Ramadi, are blowing up convoys and armored trains, attacking police posts, and killing our soldiers and political officers, in addition to Arabs prepared to work with us. Very familiar, right? Only these events took place in the second half of 1920, at a time when the British were making a first attempt to create a modern country out of what had previously been the Ottoman Turkish provinces of Mesopotamia.

The British had invaded these provinces during the First War in order to protect India. Muslims everywhere — but particularly in India, it was feared — might be susceptible to an Ottoman call for jihad. The Turks fought a hard defensive war, but there was no jihad. By the end of 1918 the British, or the French, had control of all the Turkish provinces.

About the Author

David Pryce-Jones

David Pryce-Jones (1936–2025) was a British author and commentator and served as a senior editor of National Review.

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Extremists in Iraq, especially in the Sunni areas around Falluja and Ramadi, are blowing up convoys and armored trains, attacking police posts, and killing our soldiers and political officers, in addition to Arabs prepared to work with us. Very familiar, right? Only these events took place in the second half of 1920, at a time when the British were making a first attempt to create a modern country out of what had previously been the Ottoman Turkish provinces of Mesopotamia.

The British had invaded these provinces during the First War in order to protect India. Muslims everywhere — but particularly in India, it was feared — might be susceptible to an Ottoman call for jihad. The Turks fought a hard defensive war, but there was no jihad. By the end of 1918 the British, or the French, had control of all the Turkish provinces.