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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2016)
Wednesday, June 15, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 25 Commentary... The long echo of the Arab Revolt By Jim Cornelius News Editor The long echo of the First World War is nowhere heard and felt as acutely as it is in the Middle East. There, one hundred years ago June 10, Sharif Hussein, who governed the holy city of Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula, leaned out of his window and fired a rifle into the air. It was the sym- bolic first shot of the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, and its repercus- sions are with us to this day. The British instigated and supported Hussein’s uprising and national aspirations for their own strategic purposes, and felt no qualms about selling out their Arab allies even as they used those allies’ guerrilla campaign to protect the flank of General Edmund Allenby’s advance through Palestine into Syria. The 1917 Sykes-Picot agree- ment between Britain and France carved out European imperial spheres of influ- ence in the region with little regard to earlier promises of independence and self- rule offered to convince the Arabs to rise against the Ottomans. British advisor to the leaders of the Revolt, T.E. Lawrence — known to us as “Lawrence of Arabia” — was aware of and party to this betrayal, which tor- mented him. The post-war carving up of the carcass of the Ottoman Empire into various artificial kingdoms — notably Iraq — had lasting consequences. As historian David Fromkin notes, the post-war settle- ment was “a peace to end all peace.” The century-span- ning reverberations of the Arab Revolt and the cyni- cal quashing of the Arabs’ national aspirations have fueled the ideology and propaganda of Islamic radi- calism. Not for nothing did the ISIS horde bulldoze the “Sykes-Picot Line” when they crossed from Syria into Iraq to proclaim their Caliphate. And the self-radi- calized spawn of those demonic fanatics brought their propensity for slaughter of innocents to America’s shores in the hor- rific mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub just last weekend. To recognize that the West set the table for the tortured history of the mod- ern Middle East is not to “blame us” for al-Qaeda and ISIS, etc. However, it is wise to understand that the meddling of the West in the Middle East with an eye to bigger strategic consider- ations — whether it be win- ning the First World War or maneuvering for influence and position in the Cold War — has created blow- back that often manifests itself long after we have forgotten all about our own actions and concerns in the region. The U.S. intervened in Afghanistan through the 1980s to poke the Russian Bear. When the Bear limped off, we dropped the whole business, basically ignored the rise of the Taliban — and choked on the taste of bit- ter fruit on September 11, 2001. To use Faulkner’s phrase, photo publiC domain arab rebels fought against the ottoman empire but were betrayed by their British allies. throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, his- tory is not dead; it is not even past. We forget at our peril. We all live in the shadow of that long-ago event; Sharif Hussein’s rifle shot still echoes amid the rattle of assault rifles and the explo- sions of ordnance across the very lands where Lawrence and the Bedouin warrior Auda ibn Tayi rode, blow- ing up trains and railroad bridges. Prevent a Litter, Fix Your Critter! FURRY FRIEND S FOUNDATION 501 ( c )( 3 ) www.furryfriendsfoundation.org 541-549-9941 501(c)(3) nonprofi t organization Spay/Neuter Sponsorships - Easy as 1-2-3 1 Stop by The Nugget offi ce to fi ll out a short form 2 Call Bend Spay & Neuter for the appointment 3 Take your pet — Furry Friends pays. Done!
