In that case, Mr. Lloyd George went on to argue,
the cost of re-conquest might be two hundred million pounds. He could understand the policy of leaving the country altogether, but he could not understand Mr. Asquith's policy of staying somewhere in Mesopotamia, at Basra for example, and leaving the rest of the country to chaos. As for the oil at Mosul, what was more right or more natural than that it should be used to help the country to pay its way ? Mr. Lloyd George then developed his point about the source of mandates, and declared that he had heard with amazement the contention that the League of Nations could determine who were to be the mandatories. " It is for the Allied and Associated Powers to determine who shall be the mandatories. The terms of the mandate will be submitted to the League of Nations. This is a different matter. The way in which mandates are carried out will be discussed by the League."
