File 705/1916 Pt 2 'Arab revolt: Arab reports; Sir M Sykes' reports' [‎106r] (209/450)

SECRET.
APPRECIATION OF ATTACHED ARABIAN REPORT No. XIV (New Series).
THE political confusion arising out of a multiplicity of councils and counsellors
and overlapping functionaries reaches a climax this week. There is no way of
summarising what we are doing, because the telegrams are a perfect babel of conflicting
suggestions and views, which interweave and intertwine from man to man and place to
place in almost inextricable tangle.
The best way of discerning the situation is to read the following list of dramatis
'personae who act in a piece in which it is impossible to observe the unities :—
-Sir Archibald Murray, G.O.C., Egypt, must be consulted on any political move
which has a bearing on the military situation.
Sir Henry McMahon, High Commissioner in Egypt, the funnel through which all
Arab political matter relating to Sherif and a good deal of military matter
must pass.
Admiral Wemyss, Commander-in-chief in the East Indies, responsible for all naval
moves, consequently in direct touch with the lied Sea Arabs and in touch
with the operations in the Gulf.
Lieutenant-Commander Hogarth, head of the Arab Bureau, Cairo, collects
information from all parts in regard to the Arab movement, and is responsible
for co-ordination of policy between Cairo and Basra.
General Clayton, D.M.I., Cairo, frequently advises Sir H. McMahon on Arab
matters, is a sort of buffer between the G.O.C. and the Besidency.
Sir Begin aid Wingate, Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. , normally lives isolated at Khartum, now in charge
of the whole of the military and part of the political conduct of affairs in
Hejaz. Corresponds with the Foreign Office through Sir Henry McMahon,
but does not see him.
Colonel Wilson, British representative at Jeddah, the only person in direct contact
with the Sherif. Used to correspond through Sir H. McMahon, but it is
presumed will now do so through the Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. at Khartum.
Colonel Parker, British representative at Babegh, reports through Colonel Wilson.
Colonel Bremond, French chief of the mission to the Sherif, will be responsible for
about half the material and most of the Sherif s personnel when the French
contingents arrive. Corresponds through M. de France with Paris.
M. de France, French Minister in Cairo.
G O.C. and Besident, Aden, controls our policy south of the sphere of the Sherif’s
activities. When Idris holds Comfida it is in the Besident’s sphere, when the
Sherif holds it or the Turks capture it from the Sherif it is out of his sphere.
His empire consequently waxes and wanes with the foi tunes of Idris and not
with the fortunes of the Arabs as a whole. He controls policy in Hadhramaut
and Yemen. He is nominally under the Governor of Bombay, with whom he
corresponds, but he is really under _ the Foreign Department, Simla. He
sometimes corresponds with London direct.
The Governor of Bombay, has some say in the affairs of Aden, but how much is
difficult to define precisely.