 By the time of Kitchener's reply in October the Turks had joined the Germans,

Kitchener now stated that if the Amir and the 'Arab Nation' supported Britain in the war, the British would recognise and support the independence of the Amirate and of the Arabs and, further, would guarantee Arabia against external aggression.And then Kitchener gratuitously and on his own authority added a phrase that would generate controversy in London and the Middle East for years to come.