Lawrence Of Arabia's Vision For The Middle East Revealed

Today'sThe Australian newspaper reports that Lawrence of Arabia's vision for the Middle East has been revealed in a map he created after World War I.

The map shows his proposals for a state in northern Iraq similar to the one now being demanded by Kurdish separatists, and a large territory uniting what is now Syria, Jordan and parts of Saudi Arabia.

Lawrence, who encouraged the Arabs to rise up against their Turkish rulers, wanted to award territories to the sons of his ally, Sherif Hussein of Mecca. He was thwarted by a secret Anglo-French plan to carve up the Middle East. That plan awarded Syria and Lebanon to France, and Palestine, including modern-day Jordan, to Britain. The borders created by the imperial plan survive today largely intact.