ABSTRACT
Following his release from the British Army Wasfi al-Tall joined the 'Arab Office' in Jerusalem, apparently at the beginning of 1946. Tall resigned from the Arab Offices and was among the first to enlist in Jaysh al-Inqadh, as it was being formed in Syria. He summarized the reasons for the military defeat of the Arabs in Palestine with the force, incisive candour and scathing style that were subsequently to become his personal trademarks. A major factor in the Arab defeat was, in his opinion, the lack of a unified command. Tall's critical and straightforward analysis is indicative of his down-to-earth attitude towards political issues that was to characterize him later on, when he was at the height of his political career. He had nothing but contempt for the view, widely held in the Arab world, that every change in policy and every political development could always be explained by theories of plots and conspiracies.
