'Military Report on Iraq. Area 2 (Upper Euphrates)' [‎25r] (54/140)

(b) Since the armistice the Turks have lost no opportunity
of spreading propaganda amongst the tribes of Iraq, and in
this respect the Euphrates has not escaped attention. The
intrigues of Turkish agents who use pan-Islamic and anti-
British propaganda as their chief instruments, have made
themselves felt both in the Jazirah and amongst the riverain
tribes, but their efforts have been crowned with little success.
The tribes of the Khabur river and the Shammar Jarba are
the chief objects of Turkish attention, and, although this might
react unfavourably on the Euphrates, it more directly affects
the Mosul Vilayat and the Upper Tigris Line.
Unless the Turks could show something tangible in the form
of regular troops to back up any tribal activity directed against
us, they are not likely to cause any very serious embarrassment
by purely propaganda methods only.
(c) A year or two ago the tribal organisation of the Dulaim,
like that of many other tribes of Iraq, began to show signs of
breaking up, but fortunately for us this was arrested by
Shaikh Ali Sulaiman, who has now managed to establish a good
tribal spirit and a strong control over the tribe.
The political importance of this cannot be over-estimated, as,
with the exception of a few independent Zoba’ sections, the
whole of the riverain territory of the Upper Euphrates within
our area is occupied by Dulaim.
The attitude of Ali Sulaiman, the paramount Shaikh of the
Dulaim, has been consistently pro-British, and he has always
shown himself ready to render active assistance to us when
called upon to do so. Naturally this attitude is not the outcome
of pure disinterested friendship, and no one realises more than
Ali Sulaiman to what extent his wealth and prosperity depend
upon his good relations with the Government. In this he is
followed by other important Dulaim chiefs such as Shaukah
ibn Mutlaq, Mushbin ibn Hardan and latterly, Aftan al Sharqi.
So long as Ali Sulaiman maintains his present strong position
in the Dulaim, and his friendly attitude towards the Govern
ment, there is no reason why the present satisfactory political
situation in the Dulaim division should not continue.
Military Considerations .—The operations carried out against
tribes of the Upper Euphrates early in 1920 differed from those
carried out on the Middle Euphrates later in the year in one
respect, i.e., the tribal concentrations encountered on the
Upper Euphrates were much smaller, and they adopted a more
guerilla form of warfare. They showed a distinct disinclination
to come to anything like close quarters with our troops unless
their numerical superiority gave them at least a reasonable
chance of escaping without punishment. They are adepts