FSPilot 0 Posted August 15, 2003 IIRC "Lawrence of Arabia" promised them free land if they fought with him. After they did the brits never paid up though (not his fault, motorcycle accident). Just what I gathered from watching the movie a while ago though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
denoir 0 Posted August 15, 2003 Yes, the British were the original trouble makers in the region. However the situation was a bit different. The area was used as a battle ground with the Turks. The Arabs were on the other hand still very nomadic and the value of the ground in the area was not yet fully evident (oil). Once the Arabic nationalist and independence movements grew strong enough, the British took the hint and left. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ralphwiggum 6 Posted August 15, 2003 can we please stop going offtopic? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oligo 1 Posted August 15, 2003 About those anti-materiel micro-organisms: According to that report posted above, it seems that the genetically engineered anti-materiel bacteria are supposed to have a suicide-gene, which is supposed to kill them off after suitable food in their immediate area has been eaten. However, since those bacteria are living entities, they can very easily mutate and thus inactivate the suicide gene and/or they can donate the anti-materiel genes to other bacteria living naturally in the target area. I would be very concerned about contaminating the world with metal/plastic/tarmac eating bacteria. Normally I am not concerned about releasing genetically engineered organisms to the environment, since the modifications are always chosen so that they are beneficial for humans and thus usually not beneficial for the bacteria that carry them. In case of bioweapons, however, the modifications are very useful for the bacteria (new food source available). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
