مجموعة ١٧ / ١٠ (٤) "شؤون داخلية: الوضع السياسي؛ العلاقات مع الحكومة البريطانية" [و‎‎٢‎٦] (١٠٣١/٥١)

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elements that might appear and of co-operating with British forces in the defence
of Iraqi territory. This work involves the discovery and training of officers
capable of leading armed forces, the training of the men in the use of modern
weapons and other materials of war, the provision of those materials, and the
establishment of conditions of service that will permit the development of an
efficient fighting force. All these tasks raise serious difficulties. In the first
^ place, many of the outstandingly inefficient senior officers are very well connected
^ and there is strong opposition to any move to deprive them of their posts. There
is a certain amount of talent to be found among the junior officers, but this should
not be overrated. Inadequate educational facilities, the general inertness of the
Middle Easterner, and the prevailing atmosphere of corruption and nepotism,
ensure that in the military sphere, as elsewhere, there is a dearth of first-class
material. Similarly, in instructing the rank and file in the use of modern weapons
there arises the difficulty that the ordinary recruit has little knowledge of modern
mechanisms and habitually neglects the normal measures to maintain them in a
state of efficiency. The question of supply, since it does not lie in Iraqi hands
and the Iraqi Government are willing to pay for the necessary material, would
appear to be easier. Unfortunately, however, the need for armaments of all
kinds in various theatres of war and the complications connected with Lease-lend
have greatly delayed and impeded the supply of what is required. Only in the
matter of improving conditions of service has no major obstacle been encountered,
chiefly owing to the Regent’s appreciation of the need for reform.
27. Despite these obstacles, Major-General Renton has made good progress.
A purge of useless officers on a fairly wide scale was successfully achieved, and
with the support of the Regent, who has thrown himself wholeheartedly into the
task of building up a useful army, it is to be hoped that more dead wood may be
pruned away in the near future. A number of exercises in mountain country,
desert and marshlands were carried out during the early summer and led to
marked improvements. Unfortunately, progress had not yet reached a stage
at which the army was ready to take the field in earnest when it became necessary
to conduct military operations against the rebels in Kurdistan. These operations
cannot be described as successful but, on the other hand, no disaster occurred
and the rank and file maintained good morale.
28. As regards supplies, the outstanding need is for motor transport.
Every effort has been made to arrange for an early release of the required vehicles,
and it appears probable that the minimum requirements for the anticipated return
match against the Kurds will be delivered in time to allow for training in
advance. The financial side of the transaction is still under discussion. The
difficulties that have been encountered in this field and an unhappy series of
' misunderstandings over the supply of aircraft to the Royal Iraqi Air toice have
given colour to the perennial rumour that it is the policy of His Majesty’s
Government to keep Iraq in a state of military weakness.
29. The Chief of Imperial General Staff visited Bagdad in November and
discussed with members of the Iraqi Cabinet the question of supplies of
equipment and partnership in defence.
Labour Conditions.
30. The problem of securing a fair and even set of conditions for labour
throughout the country has been engaging the attention of the Iraqi Ministry
of Social Affairs throughout the year, together with that of avoiding wide-scale
unemployment and unrest among the large number of workers (at present over
30,000) who are employed by the British army, when the latter eventually
withdraws from the country.
31. Committees on which the embassy and Headquarters, Paiforce, are
represented have been set up to deal with these problems, and, in addition to
performing extremely useful day-to-day work, have made what will, it is hoped,
prove to be a major contribution towards the betterment of social conditions in
general throughout the country by preparing a scheme, which has been adopted
by the Cabinet, for the establishment of labour exchanges throughout the country,
with a central bureau in Bagdad whose duty it will be to observe the general
trend of labour and to ensure a fair wage and a reasonable standard of industrial
conditions. A British expert on labour conditions has been engaged to assist
in this work,
Technical Ex'perts.
32. In connexion with the industrial developments and the capital works
schemes mentioned in the section of this report dealing with economics, and in