The Great War for Civilisation (223 page)

Notes

Chapter Two: “They Shoot Russians”

page 35 gave my father William a 360-page book: William Johnston, Tom Graham, V.C., A Tale of
the Afghan War
(London: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1900).

38 An account of life in Kabul: Burnes,
Cabool
.

38
Imperial Gazetteer of India: Afghanistan and Nepal
, pp. 26–7.

39 “It seemed to me so utterly wrong”: Sykes,
Durand
, p. 96.

39 Yet Durand sent a letter: Ibid., p. 117, facsimile of handwritten letter from Durand to Ella Sykes, 26 January 1895. Durand included a poem he had composed on the death of one of the British cavalrymen in suitably Victorian verse:
“Aye, we have found him, the fair young
face/Turned to the pitiless Afghan skies . . . Lying above there, out on the plain/Where the
desperate charge of our horsemen broke,/Foremost fighting, and foremost slain,/Gashed by
many a murderous stroke.”

39 an inquisitive and generous man: Ibid., p. 207.

40 “unless you drive me into enmity”: Ibid., pp. 216–17.

44 report from
The Guardian
: “Russia's Pounds 350 Million back door” by Simon Winchester, 8 May 1978.

45 some evidence that it was Amin: Griffiths,
Afghanistan
, p. 174.

61 “it is a garden”: See Micheline Centreslivres-Demont,
Popular Art in Afghanistan: Paintingson Trucks, Mosques and Tea-Houses
(Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt, 1976).

62 Within days of the Soviet invasion: Statement of Iranian foreign ministry, Tehran, 30 December 1979.

62 he hoped his country would give: Interview with the author, Tehran, 9 July 1980.

(n.) 68 From his executive office:
The Times
, 22 January 1980.

69–70 “A weird, uncanny place”: Mills,
Pathan Revolts
, pp. 108–9.

Chapter Three: The Choirs of Kandahar

(n.) 71 As usual, Churchill: See Winston Churchill,
My Early Life: A Roving Commission
(London: Thornton Butterworth, 1930), p. 156.

(n.) 84 It was instructive: See, for example,
Literaturnaya Gazeta
, 20 February 1980, p. 9.

88 had “for some reason” removed: I wrote exactly the same in my dispatch to my paper, as if this extraordinary event was scarcely worth recording. See
The Times
, 18 February 1980.

90 around $35 billion—$2.5 billion: Griffiths,
Afghanistan
, pp. 182–3.

90 Saudi Arabia, on its own admission: Anthony Hyman, “Arab Involvement in the Afghan War,” in
The Beirut Review: A Journal on Lebanon and the Middle East,
No. 7, Spring 1994, p. 78.

90 25,000 Arabs saw service: Ibid., p. 79.

(n.) 90 “Now that we have . . . ”: Letter from Douglas-Home to the author, 26 March 1980.

Chapter Four: The Carpet-Weavers

(n.) 95 “we are confronted”: Roosevelt,
Countercoup
, p. 18.

97 “The outcome was inevitable”: Woodhouse,
Something Ventured
, p. 45.

98 “democracy of Islam . . . popular eloquence”: Bill,
The Eagle and the Lion
, pp. 69–70, quoting L. P. Elwell-Sutton, Persian Oil: A Study in Power Politics (London: Laurence and Wishart, 1955), p. 195.

(n.) 98 Not that the future Ayatollah: Bill, p. 69.

98 “began a new era”: Ibid., p. 96.

98 “That was a nice”: Woodhouse, p. 132.

(n.) 99 One of its victims: Halliday,
Iran
, p. 87.

101 the population of the city of Kerman: Kapuscinski,
Shah of Shahs
, pp. 36–7.

101 The Red Cross report:
Rapport de synthèse faisant suite à la première série de visites des
délégués du Comité International de la Croix Rouge à 3,087 détenus de sécurité dans 18
prisons Iraniennes
, 1977.

101 “we have no lessons to learn”:
Sunday Times
, 16 April 1978, interview with the Shah by Frank Giles, “Why Iran feels it needs no advice from the West on human rights.”

103 “are a genuine popular revolution”: Edward Mortimer, “Iran: The greatest revolution since 1917,”
Spectator
, 17 February 1979.

104 “my doctor has given me”: The longest English-language account in Tehran of Hoveyda's initial court appearance appeared in
Kayhan's
international edition of 17 March 1979.

105 “The first bullets”: Shawcross,
Shah's Last Ride
, p. 218.

105 “I found that this”: Letter from author to Ivan Barnes, 30 March 1979.

109 “This is what happens”: Shawcross, p. 317.

113 U.S. diplomatic correspondence: These and subsequent quotations come from the 85 volumes of reconstructed American embassy traffic published in Tehran between 1979 and 1985. A summary of the involvement of Entezam and Bazargan can be found in Bill, pp. 290–3.

114 “The CIA apparently believed”: Ebtekar,
Takeover
, p. 98.

125 “the anti-Koranic ideas”:
The Last Message: The Political and Divine Will of His Holiness
Imam Khomeini
(Tehran: The Imam Khomeini Cultural Institute, 1992). Khomeini wrote his will on 15 February 1983, six years before his death.

127 “He was a study in concentration”: Ebtekar, p. 110.

Chapter Five: The Path to War

139 the “grim battle” for Baghdad: Letter to the author from Charles Dickens's daughter Hilda Maddock, 28 October 2003.

142 “we should be received”: Attiyah,
Iraq
, p. 108, quoting Sir Percy Cox in a letter to the Viceroy of India on 23 November 1914. For this and subsequent details of the British occupation of Iraq, I am indebted to Ghassan Attiyah's magnificent work of research in both British and Iraqi archives of the period, a volume that should be read by all Western “statesmen” planning to invade Arab countries.

142 “gaped emptily”: Attiyah, pp. 95–6, quoting Alois Musil,
The Middle Euphrates: A Topographical Itinerary
(New York: American Geographical Society, 1927), pp. 128–9.

142 “There is no doubt”:
The Sphere
, London, 15 May 1915.

144 “always entertained”: Attiyah, p. 104, quoting correspondence in British National Archives (NA) FO371/2775/187454.

144 “some of the Holy”: Ibid., p. 105, quoting NA CAB 21/60.

144 “clearly it is our right”: Ibid., p. 130, quoting a British Admiralty memorandum of 17 March 1915.

144 “taking Mesopotamia”: Ibid., p. 130n, quoting Earl Asquith's
Memories and Reflections,
1852–1927, vol. II, P. 69 (London: Cassell, 1928).

144 Iraq would be governed: Ibid., p. 165, quoting NA FO371/3387/142404 (Cox).

144 “a cabinet half of natives”: Ibid., p. 168, quoting NA FO371/4148/13298.

144 “The stronger the hold”: Ibid., p. 166, quoting E. Burgoyne's
Gertrude Bell, from Her PersonalPapers, 1914–1926
(London: E. Benn, 1961), pp. 78–9.

144 “Is it not for the benefit”: Hansard, Commons, vol. 127, cols. 662–4, 25 March 1920.

145 “local political agitation”: Attiyah, p. 203.

145 “We cannot maintain”: Ibid., p. 211, quoting NA FO371/5227/E6509.

145 The authorities demanded: Ibid., p. 230.

145 “Badr must be killed”: Ibid., p. 249, quoting Iraqi Ministry of Interior document, Nasiriyah, April and May 1919.

145 “anarchy plus fanaticism”: John Darwin,
Britain, Egypt and the Middle East: Imperial Policyin the Aftermath of War, 1918–1922
(New York: St. Martin's Press, 1981), quoted by Fromkin,
A Peace to End All Peace
, p. 453.

145 “heavy punishment”: Attiyah, p. 343.

145 “to complete the façade”: Ibid., p. 362.

145 “How much longer”: Quoted in Fromkin, p. 452.

145 “about ten thousand Arabs”:
The Letters of T. E. Lawrence
, ed. David Garnett (London: Jonathan Cape, 1938), p. 316, quoted in Fromkin, p. 497.

(n.) 145 “in Irak the Arabs”: T. E. Laurence [
sic
], memorandum
Reconstruction of Arabia
to the Eastern Committee of the War Cabinet, 5 November 1918, National Archives CAB 27/36.

146 at least eight pilots: Clive Semple, unpublished MS, “Eight Graves to Cairo: Calamity and Cover-up,” 2004, p. 4.

146 “you should certainly proceed”: Churchill note to Trenchard, 29 August 1920. Winston S.
Churchill 1917–1922 Companion Volume IV
by Martin Gilbert (London: Heinemann, 1977), p. 1190.

146 “that by burning down”: Dudley Saward,
“Bomber” Harris: The Authorised Biography
(London: Cassell, 1984), p. 31.

146 “they [the Arabs and Kurds] now know”: A. and P. Cockburn, Out of the Ashes, p. 65, quoting David McDowall,
A Modern History of the Kurds
(London: I. B. Tauris, 1997), p. 180.

146 “these risings take”:
Observer
, 8 August 1920.

146 But Lawrence had: Letter to the author from Peter Metcalfe, 22 June 2004.

146 “The Arabs rebelled”: Garnett,
Letters of T. E. Lawrence
, op. cit., pp. 306–8, letter to
The
Times
of 22 July 1920.

147 “The people of England”:
Sunday Times
, 22 August 1920.

147 “maintain the policy”:
Observer
, 10 February 1991, by David Omissi, “RAF officer who resigned rather than bomb Iraq.”

148 British forces paused: Warner,
Iraq and Syria
, p. 117.

(n.) 148 “The
Arab liberation movement
”: Quoted in Warner, p. 113.

(n.) 153 Mesopotamia had been the seat: Popovic,
Revolt of African Slaves
, p. 124.

159 And there he suddenly ended: A poor English translation of Saddam's Baghdad press conference of 20/21 July 1980 was carried in the
Baghdad Observer
of 23 and 24 July 1980— but without his remarks on the expulsions.

160 It was one of Stalin's biographers: Simon Sebag Montefiore in
International Herald Tribune
, 3 July 2004, “A disciple of Stalin in the dock.”

160 “the perfume of Iraq”: Quoted by David Hirst in the
Guardian
, 24 September 1980, “The megalomaniac pitted against the zealot.”

166 “Iraqis who fail”:
8 Days
, 1 March 1980, “Iraq drive to eradicate illiteracy” by Marion Woolfson.

166 “An enormous potential market”:
Sunday Press
, Dublin, 27 March 1977, “Land of the leftist sheikhs,” by Sean Cryan.

(n.) 167 “think we have to assume”: Author's message to Barnes, 7 May 1980.

168 “justify their action”: Hansard, Lords, 14 December 1989, cols. 1397–8.

168 “I doubt if there is any”: Waldegrave memo quoted in the
Guardian
, 13 September 1993, “Sell arms to Iraq—but keep it quiet: The Scott inquiry is exposing a system corrupted by secrecy,” by Richard Norton-Taylor.

169 “it would look very cynical”: Norton-Taylor report in the
Guardian
, 13 March 1993.

169 “Tell Dee I'm sorry”: Daphne Parish,
Prisoner in Baghdad
(London: Chapmans, 1992), pp. 124–31.

170 “another visit by Mr. Fisk”: Letter from Dr. Abdul Amir Al-Anbari, Iraqi ambassador in London, 21 February 1986, to Pat Davis, assistant managing editor of
The Times
.

(n.) 170 “were extremely upset”: Alloway message from Tehran to Barnes, 7 August 1980.

(n.) 172 “tried to attack Bakhtiar's”: Author's interview with Anis Naccache, Tehran, 22 October 1991.

(n.) 172–3 “setting the scene”: Abul-Fazl Ezzati,
The Revolutionary Islam and the Islamic Revolution
(Tehran: Ministry of Islamic Guidance, 1981), p. 195.

173 “It would be strange”: The full text of Khomeini's message can be found in the English-language
Tehran Times
of 8 April 1982.

173 Among them were ten young women:
Observer
, 26 June 1983, “Bahai women die for their faith,” by Colin Smith.

174 On one night, 150 women:
Observer
, 6 May 1984, “Inside Khomeini's slaughterhouse,” by Colin Smith.

174 Iranian state radio recorded:
Iran Monitor
(news translations from Iran radio and the Persian Press), 4 July 1980. The
Times
stringer Tony Alloway produced this invaluable daily digest of revolutionary activities for well over a year after the overthrow of the Shah.

174 Amnesty recorded the evidence: Amnesty International's written statement on human rights in Iran to the Political Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, 28 November 1985.

174 A frightening nine-page pamphlet: The English-language booklet was handed out by Ministry of Islamic Guidance officials in 1979 under the title
The People and the Revolutionary
Courts
. The author has a copy.

174 Khomeini raged: Khomeini,
Last Message
.

175 Human Rights Watch was reporting: Human Rights Watch,
Tears, Blood and Cries:
Human Rights in Afghanistan 1979–1984
, a Helsinki Watch Report, December 1984, pp. 5, 9, and 35.

176 As long ago as October 1979: This assessment and the Yazdi remarks and U.S. assessment of Saddam's intentions come from vols. 10 and 12 of the U.S. embassy traffic published in Tehran.

176 Back in 1978, the Shah:
Sunday Times
, 16 April 1978, interview with Frank Giles.

178 The Iraqi Foreign Ministry:
The Iraqi–Iranian Dispute: Facts versus Allegations
(Baghdad: Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1981).

178 “null and void”: An unconvincing explanation for Iraq's decision was contained in Iraqi prime minister Tariq Aziz's speech to the UN General Assembly on 25 September 1987.

178 “When we arrived”: Interview with Fathi Daoud Mouffak, Baghdad, 30 July 2004.