| #2 Has Iraq existed as a nation since Biblical times? I don't think so. Woodrow Wilson screwed up its boundaries -- and screwed the Kurds. During WWI Britain took Iraq from Ottoman Turkey and was then granted a League of Nations mandate in 1920. However, even then the boundaries were questionable and Shiite Basra and the south only joined later. The Hashemite monarchy was created by the Brits in 1921 and was granted a form of independence in 1932. Next, a pro-Axis revolt in 1941 cause a British occupation. The monarchy survived but was overthrown by the military in 1958. Sixty-three years later a failed state at its inception remains next to Yemen the Arabs most notorious failed state. |