Iraq - a 'well-rooted country'

Iraq means 'well-rooted country'. It came into being as a result of a decision by Winston Churchill in 1921.

Arabs are not one homogeneous bunch - they hate each other with a vengeance. But the Ottomans had held their empire together for a few centuries by recognising the different groups and organising them into some form of autonomous regions.

The Ottoman Empire crumbled with the end of WW1, leaving the area to some extent under the influence of the Britts - but there was not support in England for a continuation of the Empire. Against all advice from his advisors Churchill drew lines on a map and divided the area into different countries without regard for ethnic tensions. He then handed power over to local strong-men who he believed would look after England's interests - forget democracy.

And part of that legacy is modern Iraq, a mix of Sunnis, Shites and Kurds - a 'well-rooted country'.

(History's worst decisions and the people who made them, Steven Weir, p.p. 134, 135)