Military Intelligence and the Arab Revolt: The First Modern Intelligence War

257 Pages·2007·2.37 MB·English

by  Polly A. Mohs

Military Intelligence and the Arab
Revolt
This book examines the use and exploitation of intelligence in formulating
Britain’s strategy for the Arab Revolt in the First World War. It also presents a
radical re-examination of the achievements of T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of
Arabia) as an intelligence officer and guerrilla leader. Modern intelligence tech-
niques such as Sigint, Imint and Humint were incorporated into strategic plan-
ning with greater expertise and consistency in Arabia than in any other theatre
during the war and their deployment as tactical support for the Arab forces was
decisive. The unprecedented involvement of intelligence officers in active opera-
tions and decision-making on the ground led to important contradictions with
official policy in London; it would also stand as a precursor for the famous intel-
ligence accomplishments of the SOE (Special Operations Executive) twenty-five
years later in the Second World War.
Using much previously unpublished material, this study shows conclusively
how Britain’s intelligence community in Arabia influenced the conduct of the
Arab campaign, promoted a full-scale guerrilla war and thereby facilitated the
Arab armies’ march north into Syria and Palestine, and the modern Middle East.
The book contributes to an unveiling of another hidden corner of the history of
Middle East, and to better understanding of the significance of intelligence in
formulating strategic processes in the modern era.
This book will be of much interest to students of intelligence studies, military
history, Middle Eastern history, guerrilla warfare and insurgency.
Polly A. Mohs is an historian and holds a Ph.D from the University of Cam-
bridge.
Studies in intelligence series
General editors: Richard J. Aldrich and Christopher Andrew
ISSN: 1368–9916
The growing interest in intelligence activities and the opening of hitherto closed
archives since the end of the Cold War has stimulated this series of scholarly
monographs, wartime memoirs and edited collections. With contributions from
leading academics and prominent members of the intelligence community, this
series has quickly become the leading forum for the academic study of
intelligence.
British Military Intelligence in the Intelligence Investigations
Palestine Campaign 1914–1918 How Ultra changed history
Yigal Sheffy Ralph Bennett
British Military Intelligence in the Intelligence Analysis and
Crimean War, 1854–1856 Assessment
Stephen M. Harris Edited by David Charters,
A. Stuart Farson and
Signals Intelligence in World War II Glenn P. Hastedt
Edited by David Alvarez
TET 1968
Knowing Your Friends Understanding the surprise
Intelligence inside alliances and Ronnie E. Ford
coalitions from 1914 to the Cold War
Edited by Martin S. Alexander Intelligence and Imperial Defence
British Intelligence and the defence of
Eternal Vigilance the Indian Empire 1904–1924
50 years of the CIA Richard J. Popplewell
Edited by Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones and
Christopher Andrew Espionage
Past, present, future?
Nothing Sacred Edited by Wesley K. Wark
Nazi espionage against the Vatican,
1939–1945
David Alvarez and
Revd Robert A. Graham
The Australian Security Intelligence War, Strategy and Intelligence
Organization Michael I. Handel
An unofficial history
Frank Cain Strategic and Operational
Deception in the Second World War
Policing Politics Edited by Michael I. Handel
Security intelligence and the liberal
democratic state Codebreaker in the Far East
Peter Gill Alan Stripp
From Information to Intrigue Intelligence for Peace
Studies in Secret Service based on the Edited by Hesi Carmel
Swedish Experience 1939–45
C.G. McKay Intelligence Services in the
Information Age
Dieppe Revisited Michael Herman
A documentary investigation
John Campbell Espionage and the Roots of the Cold
War
More Instructions from the Centre The conspiratorial heritage
Christopher and Oleg Gordievsky David McKnight
Controlling Intelligence Swedish Signal Intelligence
Edited by Glenn P. Hastedt 1900–1945
C.G. McKay and Bengt Beckman
Spy Fiction, Spy Films and Real
Intelligence The Norwegian Intelligence Service
Edited by Wesley K. Wark 1945–1970
Olav Riste
Security and Intelligence in a
Changing World Secret Intelligence in the Twentieth
New perspectives for the 1990s Century
Edited by A. Stuart Farson, Edited by Heike Bungert,
David Stafford and Wesley K. Wark Jan G. Heitmann and Michael Wala
A Don at War The CIA, the British Left and the
Sir David Hunt K.C.M.G., O.B.E. Cold War
(reprint) Calling the tune?
Hugh Wilford
Intelligence and Military
Operations Our Man in Yugoslavia
Edited by Michael I. Handel The story of a Secret Service operative
Sebastian Ritchie
Leaders and Intelligence
Edited by Michael I. Handel
Understanding Intelligence in the Mussolini’s Propaganda Abroad
Twenty-First Century Subversion in the Mediterranean and
Journeys in shadows the Middle East, 1935–1940
Len Scott and Peter Jackson Manuela A. Williams
MI6 and the Machinery of Spying The Politics and Strategy of
Philip H.J. Davies Clandestine War
Special operations executive,
Twenty-First Century Intelligence 1940–1946
Edited by Wesley Wark Neville Wylie
Intelligence and Strategy Britain’s Secret War against Japan,
Selected essays 1937–1945
John Robert Ferris Douglas Ford
The US Government, Citizen US Covert Operations and Cold
Groups and the Cold War War Strategy
The state–private network Truman, secret warfare and the CIA,
Edited by Helen Laville and 1945–53
Hugh Wilford Sarah-Jane Corke
Peacekeeping Intelligence Stasi
New players, extended boundaries Shield and sword of the party
Edited by David Carment and John C. Schmeidel
Martin Rudner
Military Intelligence and the Arab
Special Operations Executive Revolt
A new instrument of war The first modern intelligence war
Edited by Mark Seaman Polly A. Mohs
Military Intelligence and
the Arab Revolt
The first modern intelligence war
Polly A. Mohs
First published 2008
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library,2010.
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© 2008 Polly A. Mohs
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-94462-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0-415-37280-1 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-203-94462-3 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-37280-0 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-94462-2 (ebk)
To my parents, Mary and Fred Mohs
Now the reason the enlightened prince and the wise general conquer the enemy
whenever they move and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men is
foreknowledge. [...] What is called ‘foreknowledge’ cannot be elicited from
spirits, nor from gods, nor by analogy with past events nor from calculations. It
must be obtained from men who know the enemy situation.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
We called ourselves ‘Intrusive’ as a band; for we meant to break into the
accepted halls of English foreign policy, and build a new people in the East,
despite the rails laid down for us by our ancestors. Therefore from our hybrid
intelligence office in Cairo [...] we began to work upon all chiefs, far and near.
T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Contents
Foreword xii
Acknowledgements xiv
List of abbreviations xvi
Map xviii
Introduction 1
Legacies of the First World War 2
Intelligence: suspended potential 4
Progress to the east 5
The Arab Bureau and British policy 7
1 Setting the scene: British intelligence and an Arab
insurrection, 1913–15 12
British Egypt: redefining strategic security 12
Schemes for subversion: Arab opportunities and British
ambivalence 16
Political negotiations 24
The Foreign Office and the Sykes–Picot Agreement 29
The creation of the Arab Bureau 32
2 The outbreak of the Arab Revolt, May–November 1916 39
The Sherif of Mecca launches uprising 39
Complications for British support 42
Debating control of the Hejaz campaign 45
The Hejaz uprising: a precedent for Syria? 50