The Anglo-Iraq Treaty
The Treaty which will govern the relations of Great Britain and Iraq as soon as Iraq becomes a member of the League has been completed at Baghdad. All the con- ditions mentioned in the draft Treaty of 1927, as the price of British support for Iraq's membership of the League, have been abandoned. Iraq recognizes such essential British interests as the safeguarding of the oilfields and the air route to India. New aerodromes, at a discreet distance from Baghdad and Mosul, will be leased to Great Britain, who will pay for the local troops guarding them. Iraq will have full independence, but there will be a defensive military alliance between the two countries. Such a Treaty appears to be for the distinct benefit of both sides, and it is a subject of congratulation that no nationalist punctilio has been allowed to wreck it after the manner of what has happened in Egypt.
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