In the 1920's Iraq was still under British control, but this to be short lived. The Arab uprising was around the corner.
At the time that great British hero Winston Churchill was 'Secretary for War and Air'. He decided that the only way to deal with the situation was to use gas. At first this was opposed by the gov't because of the memories of WWI. However, Winnie said ...
"I do not understand this sqeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favour of using poison gas against uncivilised tribes."
Air warfare was truly developed by a Brit called Trenchard. In 1920 Churchill asked him to take over the Iraqi situation asking him to drop gas bombs on the Kurdish people which would involve - "the provision of some kind of asphyxiating bombs calculated to cause disablement of some kind but not death...for use in preliminary operations against turbulent tribes."
He eventually won the struggle at home and poison gas was used to horrifying effect.
There are people in Iraq whose grand parents or even parents witnessed these gassings by the forces now coming to 'liberate' them. There were people alive at the time of Saddam's Kurd gassing excercise that could remember these British gassings.
A wonderful man, who I would have simply loved to have known - NOT!, Wing Commander Gale of 30 Squadron said of the 1920's exploits:
"If the Kurds hadn't learned by our example to behave themselves in a civilised way then we had to spank their bottoms. This was done by bombs and guns. "
It was the British that first used 'liquid fire' ( a forerunner of Napalm) when they dropped loads of it on the Kurds in these uprisings.
The 'Arab Uprising' started just weeks after Trenchard took control of the situation in Iraq.
How come no one ever tried Winston Churchill for war crimes in Iraq? <rhetorical question!>
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Stolen from loads of articles across the net
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