As long ago as last May the Foreign Office began to ask for troops to be sent to Iraq to guard the lines of communication, But all the troops we had got had to go to the Nile valley, In default of troops it was difficult to make headway against the pro-Axis intrigues of Raschid Ah, whose object obviously was to have everything ready for the Germans as soon as they could reach Iraq according to plan.
"Therefore, the ill-informed, ful, kid-gloved British Gov minent actually forestalled this plot.
Strong British forces landed an control of a highly impor! ut head in the east—Basra—i we shall doubtless have to fight hard "Raschid Ah was led into more violent courses. For several days we were very anxious about our position there. Yesterday, the garrison at Habbaniyah sallied out and completely routed the besiegers and put them to flight. 26 Iraqi officers and 408 men were taken prisoner and the total enemy casualties are estimated 1,000.
"Possibly, the Germans will arrive before we have crushed the revolt, in which case our task will become more difficult, Possibly the revolt went off at half cock. We intend to
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