File 705/1916 Pt 1 'Arab revolt: reports' [‎248v] (44/494)

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ADEN.
It appears that the Imam of Yemen has a force of about 4,000 men and 4 guns,
and that it recently marched to Shahra, west of Asir. There is evidence that the Turks
in the Lahej district have heard of the revolt in Hejaz, and Said Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. is said to btf
collecting camels.
It is believed that the Turks may at any moment effect a retirement from their
positions at Lahej.
MUSCAT.
[Nil.]
MESOPOT AM IA.
There is very little activity reported from Mesopotamia. It appears that the
disaffection among the hostile tribes in the Shattrat al Montafik region continues. The
Tigris force continues to be troubled by Arab snipers.
Ibn Bashid, who was last reported to have fled from the neighbourhood of Zobier,
recently attacked Ibn Towalla, another Shammar Sheikh, friendly to the British, in the
neighbourhood of Khamsieh. When this was reported, a British detachment of cavalry
moved out from Khamsieh to assist Ibn Towalla. Ibn Bashid was defeated and fled
south. During the engagement he appears to have lost a large part of his following,
which originally numbered about GOO.
TBANSLATION FBOM THE “ TANIN ” (THE OBGAN OF THE TUBKISH
COMMITTEE OF UNION AND PBOGBESS).
Surrender of Townshend’s Force of 13,000 Men at Kut-ul-Aw,ara.
This time they did not succeed in scuttling. This time the English who, when
they cannot achieve success, consider it the greatest honour to run away, have been
unable to do as they did at Gallipoli.
The English forces at Kut-ul-Amara, with their five generals and 500 officers, have
ended by surrendering and now, while those who were shut up in Kut-ul-Amara have
surrendered, what is left of the English forces in Lower Mesopotamia are seeking some
means of scuttling.
In tlm degree in which the fall of Kut-ul-Amara was a success for us
(Turks), it is a smashing blow to the enemy. For we are quite convinced that it
is not only that loss of Kut-ul-Amara, but the beginning of the loss of all the
forces, munitions, Ac., they have during the last year and a half accumulated in Lower
Mesopotamia, as also of their good name and prestige m the East. The history
of mankind, in recording the wars between nations, awards the palm of victory
to the winners, but does not withhold a mead of appreciation from those who have
fought honourably and displayed martial qualities. If we look at matters from
this standpoint, the English (who are unable to gain a victory by force of arms, far
from deserving a mead of praise are justly deserving of ridicule, owing to the laughable
attitude they assumed in presence of the menace of defeat. The defenders of Kut-ul-
Amara, despairing of being relieved and seeing that surrender was inevitable, sought to
save themselves by the offer of a ransom. They proposed that they should be let to
go free on condition of paying one million sterling to our Commandant in Mesopotamia
and handing over to him all their guns and ammunition. The English, on a previous
occasion, secretly offered bakshish to Bahmi Bey, the Governor-General of Smyrna.
They demanded the surrender of Smyrna as a bit of English bluff. The English, who
then learnt what the Turk was, ought to have realised that they could not on this
occasion save themselves by bribery, lhat they could not learn such an obvious truth
would seem to show that the English, who were thought to be a serious people, are
really stupid when confronted with a military situation. As is well known, the English
at the outset of the war effected a landing in the Basra region. Since then, i.e>,
during the last year and a half, profiting by our military preoccupations elsewhere,
e.g., at the Dardanelles, and by the resulting fact that we had insufficient forces in
Lowei Mesopotamia, they penetrated into that district and slowly advanced to near
Bagdad. ^ In fact, imagining that their entry into Bagdad was a matter of a few
days, their papers and official organs could not restrain themselves from announcing