Gas in Mesopotamia
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It is suspected by some that the British might have used poison gas against the Kurds in Mesopotamia in 1920.
Henry B. Gonzalez, speaking in the US House of Representatives on March 24, 1992 said that Britain used gas against the Kurds, and has often been quoted since: however a question rmeains over how well informed Mr Gonzalez was.
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[edit] Work of recent historians
The main source usually quoted in support of the idea that Britain used poison gas in Mesopotamia is Geoff Simons, Iraq: From Sumer to Saddam.[1] However, all that Simons actually says is that: (a) the use of poison gas was considered and (b) aircraft were used. Leading to the view that Simons may have been misread by those wishing to further this theory.
Another historian, Lawrence James, says much the same thing: "By September the local commander, General Sir Aylmer Haldane, was beginning to get the upper hand, although he was still desperate enough to clamour for large supplies of poison gas. It was not needed, for air power had given his forces the edge whenever the going got tough."[2]
[edit] British policy
Britain certainly considered the use of poison gas in situations such as that in Mesopotamia.
In the 1920s there was a general idea, which Britain shared, that the rules of war only applied to conflict "between civilized nations." It had earlier been stated clearly that "they do not apply in wars with uncivilized States and tribes" in the Manual of Military Law of 1914.[3]
A War Office minute of 12 May 1919 argued for the use of gas in certain situations in general terms: "I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes. The moral effect should be so good that the loss of life should be reduced to a minimum. It is not necessary to use only the most deadly gasses: gasses can be used which cause great inconvenience and would spread a lively terror and yet would leave no serious permanent effects on most of those affected." The minute in question was by Winston Churchill,[4]
[edit] British actions
It is known that in 1919, gas stocks were sent out from the UK to the N. W. Frontier Province - however it is not at all clear that they were ever actually used.[5]
[edit] The argument against the view that the British used gas
The following general argument suggests that Britain did not actually use gas:
- It is generally agreed that the Italians used gas in Abyssinia in 1935-36 - and seems to have been the first time that gas was used from aircraft: had Britain really used gas in 1920, it would surely be equally well known and uncontested.
- If the main terror weapon used against the Kurds in 1920 was machine-guns from aircraft, and if air delivery of poison gas was not developed until the mid 1930s, it seems highly unlikely that Britain could have used gas in 1920.
[edit] References
- ^ Geoff Simons, Iraq: From Sumer to Saddam (London: St. Martins Press, 1994), pp. 179-181
- ^ Lawrence James, The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, p. 400
- ^ HMSO, 1914, p. 235
- ^ Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, (London: Heinemann, 1976), companion volume 4, part 1
- ^ Robert Harris and Jeremy Paxman, A Higher Form of Killing (New York: Hill and Wang, 1982), p. 44. It seems that Harris and Paxman do not mention Iraq.
