Those Who Forget History

I don't for a moment doubt that the final authority must be in the hands of the Sunnis, in spite of their numerical inferiority. Otherwise you will have a mujtahid-run, theocratic state, which is the very devil.

Gertrude Bell on Iraq

Gertrude," he (Winston Churchill) countered, "you simply cannot draw a line around Mosul, Baghdad and Basra and declare everything inside it a nation! It won't matter whom you use as a figurehead."

"Well, of course," Miss Bell said airily, "we'll have to take Kurdish sentiments into account."

Gertrude Bell was the considered the female "Lawrence of Arabia" and is largely held responsible for the creation of Iraq in the 1920s. Even at that early stage she accurately predicted the outcomes that we are looking at today now that Iraq can comfortably be called a failed state - what do they say about those who forget history are destined to repeat it.

Do yourself a favor and Google Gertrude - this is a particularly fascinating woman and there is a mountain of information out there.