Probably to make the book more salable, author tries to pin Iraq situation on Churchill; not that interesting as it just quotes a bunch of letters. Overall background discussion of this part of the world was useful.
- Sunni = 80+% of Muslims worldwide.
- Shiites = Iran, Iraq, Azaerbaijani. (Fatimids in Egypt were Shiite.)
- Kurds tend to be Sunni, ethnically close to Iranian.
- Arab-centered in Baghdad in 800ish? (previously in Damascus). Had been stopped by Charles Martel at Tours in 732.
- Mongols take Baghdad in 1258; convert to Islam; center the caliph in Constantinople (Ottoman Turks) after 1453. Taking territory in Africa, Balkans, Iran. Vienna attacks fail in 1529 and 1689; Ottoman Empire weakening thereafter.
- “Turkification” starts around 1900; WWI intervenes.
Britain sponsors kings in Iraq not thought to be legitimate; Sunnis empowered; fail to create Kurdistan (Kurds split among Turkey, Iraq, etc.)
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