War by Revolution. Germany and Great Britain in the Middle East in the Era of World War I

THETHICKENINGPLOTANDHOLYWAR 73

friendlytoBritain.IfSO,Husayn,theguardianoftheIslamicholy
places,seemedtheobviouscandidate.Buttosupporthisargument
Claytonmadeclaimsbasedonerroneousintelligenceinformation.
Forexample,heassertedtoKitchenerthattherivalleadersofthe
ArabianPeninsula-therulersofAsir (Sayyidal-Idrisi)andYemen
(theImamYahya), as well asIbnSaudandperhapsIbnRashidof
Najd-hadmovedclosertoHusayn,inpartencouragedbyagentsof
thekhediveinConstantinople,toworkfor"anArabiafor theAr-
abs.'?"SucharumorhadexistedbeforethewaramongGermanoffi-
cials inTurkey,butthestorycontainedlittletruth,asthecontinued
bitterconflictbetweenIbnSaudandIbnRashid,describedin the
previouschapter,illustrates.
ButfaultyintelligencealsobuttressedClayton'smostimportant
justificationto KitchenerforapproachingtheSharifofMecca.
ClaytonwarnedthatreportsreceivedlatelyindicatedthattheTurks
hadsuccessfullyelicitedtheneutralityoractiveassistanceofthelead-
ingchieftainsofArabia.'? Heconcluded"thattheSherifofMeccahas
nowdefinitelythrownin hislotwithTurkey.Thisactionappearsto
haveformedpartofageneralPan-Islamicmovement,engrainedfrom
Constantinople.">ButwhilebothConstantinopleandBerlinpro-
motedpan-Islamism,thesharifhadhardlyjoinedtheYoungTurks.
In fact,manyGermansandOttomansviewedthesharifandother
keyArabianchieftains,exceptforIbnRashid,aspro-British."
KitchenerandClayton,however,werenottheonlyonesinBritish
officialdomtosuggestthepossibilityofwagingwaragainsttheTurks
byallyingwiththeArabs. GreyproposedtoMalletwarningthePorte
aboutit,whereupontheambassadorrepliedthatsupportingan"Arab
movement"wouldbeoneofthemosteffectiveweaponsin a war
againstTurkey."Also, SirAndrewRyan,theactingchiefdragoman
attheConstantinopleembassy,wroteaspiritedmemorandumon
thepossibilityofengineeringanArabrevoltthatwouldestablisha
stableauthority"strongenoughtoadminister,butweakenoughto
bedependentonUS."2^3
TheIndiaOfficeadvisedcaution,informingthegovernmentthat
its useoftheArabs,alongwiththelatter'swishforautonomyfrom
theTurks,couldbe atwo-edgedpolicy.TheGovernmentofIndia
viewedMuslimsas animportantsectionofIndia'spopulation,which