Sources of Iraq Knowledge

From Lupin's Daily Kos diary, I see that the U.S. is using British reports from 1918 as its sources of information on Iraqi tribal politics. Do have have any idea how much any nation in the developing world has changed in the past 85 years? I watched some of Lawrence of Arabia last week. I guarantee you the Middle East is different today. Little things like the development of the nation-state, the spread of new technology, the coming of Arab nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism, and so on have all taken their toll. And of course the British occupation of Iraq was such a smashing success...

UPDATE: New blogger Daniel Stein has a bit more commentary.

UPDATE: Jason in comments recommends this article, which covers in more depth Lieutenant-Colonel Alan King's outreach among the Iraqi tribes. I'm not sure it contradicts the above, though, as he seems to be acting a lot like a Lawrence of Arabia wannabee. I think what it comes down to is that the influence of these tribal shaykhs might be overrated. Only time will tell.