April 2, 1921 Winston Churchill to Prime Minister Lloyd George

Secretary of State for the Colonies, Winston Churchill to British Prime Minister David Lloyd George

“We consider it necessary immediately to occupy militarily Transjordania… as we cannot contemplate hostilities with Abdullah in any circumstances, there is no alternative to this policy. We must therefore proceed in co-operation and accord with him… Abdullah with best will in the world will not be able to restrain his people from disturbing the French and even making war upon them unless he is fortified and restrained at once by presence of a British force, for its own safety… I have no doubt whatever that occupation of Trans-Jordania on basis of an arrangement with Abdullah is right policy for us to adopt, and that well afford best prospect of discharge of our responsibilities with future reductions of expansion”

Source: Kleiman, Aaron S. Foundations of British Policy in the Arab World: The Cairo Conference of 1921, Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1970, pp. 119-120 F.D. 371/6342