Meetings
CLAPHAM Saturday 10 December, 11 am to 5pm Book Sale (Marx,Labour Movement, etc) Socialist Party Head Office, 52 Clapham High Street, SW4 (nearest tube: Clapham North). |
CHISWICK Tuesday 20 December 8pm West London Branch Social Canteen (first door on left), Chiswick Town Hall, Heathfield Terrace, W4 (nearest tube: Turnham Green). |
Our Object and Declaration of Principles
FIFTY YEARS AGO
OIL - THE PRIZE IN
THE MIDDLE EAST
Fahoud is the name of the
spot in the Arabian desert that is the centre of the drama being played
out with repercussions throughout the Eastern Mediterranean lands, and
Fahoud spells oil. Mr. Noel Barber, correspondent of the Daily Mail
told the story in the issues of 31 October and 7 November.
"A year ago no white man had ever been there. Today, under the lea of a great escarpment - with the nearest natural
water-hole more than 100 miles away - there lies a small cluster of huts and tents, and by the side an airstrip. It is Fahoud, a
name you can find on no map. In it live a sturdy band of lonely men, Britain's advance force in the war for oil that daily
gathers momentum in the Middle East . . .Fahoud pinpoints the struggle for oil being fought by vast concerns in Wall Street and the City, by diplomats in Geneva, and in c l a s h e s b e t w e e n t r o o p s patrolling the t e n u o u s d e s e r t
boundaries.
It is the battle between the Saudis and the British, b e t w e e n America and Britain for mastery in the world's r i c h e s t
oilfield." -(Daily Mail, 7/11/55).
As Noel Barber says of his report: "It is a story that might have been written 60 years ago, when 'outposts of Empire' were
fashionable." He points out that British and American interests clash. American oil companies are closely connected with the ownership and development of the concession oil fields in Saudi Arabia, while British companies, and the British
Government, are associated with the Aden Protectorate, the Sultan of Muscat and the Sheikh Abu Zhabi. After attempts to settle the dispute by arbitration had broken down, Sir Anthony Eden announced in the House of Commons on 26 October that "native troops, commanded by British officers, had reoccupied the Buraini Oasis after a skirmish with Saudi Arabian forces who marched in three years ago." (Daily Mail, 31/10/55).
(From article by 'H', Socialist
Standard, December 1955)
"A year ago no white man had ever been there. Today, under the lea of a great escarpment - with the nearest natural
water-hole more than 100 miles away - there lies a small cluster of huts and tents, and by the side an airstrip. It is Fahoud, a
name you can find on no map. In it live a sturdy band of lonely men, Britain's advance force in the war for oil that daily
gathers momentum in the Middle East . . .Fahoud pinpoints the struggle for oil being fought by vast concerns in Wall Street and the City, by diplomats in Geneva, and in c l a s h e s b e t w e e n t r o o p s patrolling the t e n u o u s d e s e r t
boundaries.
It is the battle between the Saudis and the British, b e t w e e n America and Britain for mastery in the world's r i c h e s t
oilfield." -(Daily Mail, 7/11/55).
As Noel Barber says of his report: "It is a story that might have been written 60 years ago, when 'outposts of Empire' were
fashionable." He points out that British and American interests clash. American oil companies are closely connected with the ownership and development of the concession oil fields in Saudi Arabia, while British companies, and the British
Government, are associated with the Aden Protectorate, the Sultan of Muscat and the Sheikh Abu Zhabi. After attempts to settle the dispute by arbitration had broken down, Sir Anthony Eden announced in the House of Commons on 26 October that "native troops, commanded by British officers, had reoccupied the Buraini Oasis after a skirmish with Saudi Arabian forces who marched in three years ago." (Daily Mail, 31/10/55).
(From article by 'H', Socialist
Standard, December 1955)
Contents
Page 19
Socialist Party