T.E. Lawrence in 1941, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, which stated, "The people of England have been led in Iraq into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad communiqués are belated, insincere, incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. It is a disgrace to our record, and may soon be too inflamed for any ordinary cure. We are today not far from disaster." The response from Prime Minister Winston Churchill was, "You do not need to bother too much about the long term future in Iraq. Your immediate task is to get a friendly Government set up in Baghdad."

Sound familiar?