[Argus]

In fact, when Iraq was first assembled at the end of WWI, the British installed a Hashemite King (the grand uncle, I believe, of the current king of Jordan). This guy was thrown out by the the bunch that later brought us Saddam

That would have been King Faisal I (the same one played by Alec Guinness in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA), who died shortly after his coronation, being succeeded by his son, Ghazi I, who died a few years later, succeeded by his son Faisal II, who's the one who was assassinated by rebel officers in 1959. I believe they were of the same line as the current kings of Jordan, who are hereditary sharifs of Mecca, thus rivals to the Wahabi rulers of Saudi Arabia. Not much love lost among any of them, apparently.

[jscd3]

they were of the same line as the current kings of Jordan, who are hereditary sharifs of Mecca, thus rivals to the Wahabi rulers of Saudi Arabia

King Abdulla would, therefore, be sort of an interesting guy to promote into some position of authority in Iraq then, wouldn't you think? Especially if, as we are often reminded, we eventually need to deal with our "allies" in the House of Saud.

Again, just thinking outside of the box here...