‘Excuse for bigger demands’

‘Kuwait is ours’... Iraqis fail to let go

“IT WAS actually not surprising to see the Iraqis during the reign of Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi alMuntafiki, renew their differences with the State of Kuwait,” columnist Hassan Ali Karam wrote for AlSeyassah daily.

“The Iraqis based on their own logic, fail to see what has been done by the State of Kuwait in terms of assistance to Iraq. Not just that, they think the borders that have been duly demarcated by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) between the State of Kuwait and Iraq are illegal and still believe that Iraq has been dealt with unfairly although they have signed the document No. 833/199.

“The above is the concise Iraqi vision towards the State of Kuwait. Moreover, there are some Iraqis who are still insisting that Kuwait is part and parcel of Iraq.

“However, there are now differences over Abdullah Bay and the filing of a complaint in this connection at the UNSC has come at a time when reciprocal visits between the Kuwaiti and the Iraqi officials continue.

“Not just that, the relations between the two countries have seen the holding of three summits as if the two countries are linked to each other through a bosom relationship and living in an emotional honey moon and as if there is no fire that cannot be extinguished.

“Such being the case, we conclude that the complaint of the Iraqis that is filed with the UNSC is a preliminary link in the chain of the remaining scores of links and this means that all the reciprocal visits, the negotiations and the agreements and the joint projects, the financial grants that have been extended by the State of Kuwait to Iraq, the donations, the building of the schools, universities and hospitals and the renovation of the tombs in addition to the conference that was hosted and patronized by the State of Kuwait on the theme ‘The Reconstruction of Iraq Conference’ was just an attempt to throw ashes on the eyes.

“As a matter of fact, the Iraqis don’t like to forget the phrase ‘Kuwait is ours’, to such an extent we say those who are secretly praying to Almighty Allah to bestow His mercy upon Saddam Hussein exceed those who are praying overtly for the Almighty Allah to bestow His mercy upon them.

“In other words, Saddam still lives in the heart of the Iraqis, and as a matter of fact it is difficult for them to get rid of his memory as long as his ghost continues to haunt them.

“Hence, the crises between the two countries (Kuwait and Iraq) shall exist like what we saw during the reign of Saddam and this means the latest dispute between the two countries is an excuse for bigger demands. The difference revolves around the island and justifications of its building, then this difference will be settled by mutual understanding on the basis that nobody benefits at the expense of the other.

“I recently watched three televised interviews on YouTube involving three Saddam era officials including his last foreign minister Naji Sabri Al-Hadithi, the commander of the Republican Guard and Saddam’s ambassador to Paris. These men, during the interview, have confessed that the Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait was wrong, but they found justifications by repeating their baseless and fake accusation that Kuwait was stealing the Iraqi oil and land.

“However, we are not experts in international law or in the maritime law, but the difference over the alleged area is currently in the hands of the UNSC where Kuwait currently occupies one of the ten non-permanent seats.

“Such being the case, we conclude that filing a complaint with the UNSC when the term of the State of Kuwait as non-permanent member in the UNSC, ends after three months, will raise many questions and why Iraq did not file this complaint on the eve of the United Nations General Assembly meetings which are attended by leaders of member states, presidents and foreign ministers? Is it fair for Iraq and its media to highlight the complaint against the State of Kuwait at this juncture?

“This happens although Kuwait never thinks of creating any type of crises with the new democratic Iraq, rather, currently strives to boost the peace, security and the brotherly, neighborhood relations with Iraq.”

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Ali Karam

“In spite of the ‘civilized and sincere humanitarian balance’ deposited by the State of Kuwait in the ‘bank of the Kuwaiti-Iraqi relations’ to boost stability and development between the two countries and turn the page of tragedies, sadness and hatred between the peoples of the two countries, Kuwait has spared no efforts to bring peace, security, build confidence and good neighborhood relations between the two countries,” columnist Dr Nayef Al-Adwani wrote for Al-Shahed daily.

“Kuwait has opened wide the door of negotiations, mutual understanding and reconciliation and has spared no efforts to exchange of ambassadors with Iraq, open the borders between the two countries, boost commercial ties, economic and security cooperation and extend necessary political support for Baghdad motivated by its keenness to build bridges of unity in the face of extremism and terrorism.

“Apart from the above, Kuwait recently hosted the biggest international financial conference in support of Iraq, to rebuild its infrastructure and what was destroyed by the war because of the stupidity of the defunct regime of Saddam Hussein and the wars which Saddam Hussein got Iraq embroiled in, which only brought tragedies, backwardness and ignorance, given the fact Iraq prior to these wars topped the countries of the region in terms of progress.

“As a matter of fact, the International Financial Conference that was hosted and sponsored by the State of Kuwait, topped by the formation of an unprecedented international mobilization to extend $30 billion to Iraq, Kuwait made a generous donation of billions of dollars in addition to slashing the debts owed by Iraq to Kuwait as well as reducing the amount of money to be paid by Iraq to Kuwait in the form of compensation for the damages caused by the Iraqi aggression against the State of Kuwait on August 2, 1990.

“However, in spite of the default shown by Iraq in settling suspended issues between the two countries pursuant to the United Nations resolutions topped by the Resolution No. 833 concerning the demarcation of the borders between the two countries, Kuwait has surrendered its rights and as such it strived to lift the ban that was imposed on Iraq pursuant to Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.

“In spite of the above, Iraq remains committed to its volatile political attitude which is socially undermined in terms of its dealing with the State of Kuwait and takes for granted the tolerance of the State of Kuwait as weakness and strives to exploit the same making it appear that Iraq still represents the country of arrogance and vicious power as it was before.”

“The political crisis that has raged for nearly four years in Britain, known as ‘Brexit’ or exit from the European Union (EU), does not seem to end. It will lead to more dangerous consequences and complications, beyond the subject of Brexit such as division of the British society and political disputes which are too difficult to fix,” columnist, Professor at Kuwait University’s Political Science Department, advisor to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Secretary General of the Arab Fund for Human Rights (AFHR) Dr Ghanim Al-Najjar wrote for Al-Jarida daily. “How did the crisis begin? “The crisis came as a political miscalculation of former prime minister David Cameron when he reacted to the verdict concerning laborers issued by the European Court of Human Rights against his country by declaring that he would leave the European Union. It was just an attempt to announce a reaction to the European Court’s verdict. Cameron did not support the exit from EU but the idea was picked up by extremist right hand which formed a party named ‘You Keep’ turning the issue of exit from EU into a trend. Cameron was obligated to organize a referendum which resulted in the winning of the voters for the exit according to low majority. The result of the referendum reflected the serious division of the British society on the issue. Cameron resigned and Theresa May took over as prime minister. “What are the consequences of the crisis? “Leaving the EU is not like getting out of Arab organizations. It requires negotiations and financial commitments by Britain estimated at around 40 billion pounds. May tried to negotiate with the European Union according to her conditions. However, the negotiations did not succeed. May made three proposals that were overwhelmingly rejected by Parliament, including a large number of conservative MPs whose tendency was closer to radical right than the traditional Conservative Party. The exit vote was on Oct 31. “Why did the crisis gain momentum recently? “May resigned after failing to reach an agreement. The Parliament rejected her proposals. Boris Johnson became prime minister after strenuous internal elections. He is a controversial figure that President Donald Trump described as like him. Johnson is of Turkish origin. He began to take unprecedented steps, including the suspension of Parliament for five weeks, and his announcement that he is ready to exit without agreement regardless of the consequences. This prompted the opposition to come together against him despite their differences, along with a number of Conservative rebels, to prevent an exit without an agreement.

“They are expected to use several tools, including legal ones and lack of confidence. Opposition proposed a draft that obligates the government not to exit from EU without an agreement. Johnson threatened Conservative lawmakers that they will be dismissed from the party if they voted in favor of the draft. If they do so, Johnson would call for general election on Oct 14. That is why he started his electoral campaign by making promises like increasing the budget of police, health and others. Such demands have been rejected by the Conservative Party over the last 10 years.

“The political crisis in Britain is not the same as the previous ones. Political life does not seem to be returning to normal. It does not appear that the Conservative Party will return to what it was. This crisis will most likely result in a new political reality.”

“’I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!’ Patrick Henry said this during the US independence war and the statement created inflammable storm leading to that war. Henry chose the right time and words with which he addressed the representatives to change conviction, emotions and action, so the quote remains evergreen till date,” Abdul-Aziz Al-Essa wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“Words have powerful influence on people, so I will discuss this subject in this article from two different perspectives. One is about using words to influence others, and the other is to use words for personal influence. Words have close link with emotions, because since they are capable of changing our feelings and those around us. Hearing good words from them can make your day, while you may hear bad words from them that will make you think and feel bad to the extent of ruining your day.

“The wrong way we use some words in the description of certain things may change our morale. For instance, if we ask somebody about his feelings after a long wait at an airport, he will describe the situation by saying, ‘We were badly treated so much that we felt belittled, because we waited for a long time.’

“Dear reader, note that bad words and sharp utterances will enrage you the more, up to the extent that you will think of using your fist to restore your honor and take away the feeling of indignity caused by that situation! In fact, that feeling was caused by the wrong manner of utterances chosen by the speaker to describe the situation! What if he had described the situation in another way? For instance, ‘I feel uncomfortable due to congestion.’ In this case, the person will not be annoyed and the discomfort will be the only issue of concern at that point.”

“Europe lived in wars and hunger during World War 1 (1914-1918) and Syria was rated the richest Arab nation having the largest industries with unparalleled economic prosperity before the war,” Ahmad Al-Dawas wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“Damascus was like Europe where you would find the black Ford cars and pictures of Syrian traders hung in front of their shops at a famous market those days.

“When the Armenian genocide happened, the people of Aleppo assisted Armenian refugees in 1916 by offering them food.

“The clothes imported from Aleppo to England were the best attires in 1918 and the value of export from Aleppo for a day in 1917 was equivalent to the export of Cairo in 30 days.

“As for Egypt, it sent emergency aids to rescue Belgium from poverty and hunger in 1918 when the west abandoned it.

“There was a copy of Egyptian cheque written in French, which was due for collection in Paris and Cairo wrote on it on Aug 7, 1918, ‘Pay Belgium Franc 165,000’.

“Cairo won the Most Beautiful City in the World Award in 1925 to an extent that when London or France was being beautified, Europeans were proud to say that it was like Cairo.

“Illegal migrants from Greece infiltrated Cairo in 1946 to seek greener pastures from Europe.

“Yemen used to lend the World Bank $6 million every year while 1.5 Yemeni Riyal was equal to $1.

“Sudan sent donations to Madina to assist Saudi Arabia when that country experienced drought and hunger in 1935. Bab Al-Bahr Road in Tripoli, Libya was among the best in the world in 1915.

“What happened to those Arab countries was due to conspiracies in the Western countries to destroy them from within. An economic theory states that the economy of every country passes through four stages: stagnancy, boom, marketability and recession.

“It means that a bad or booming situation does not last forever. Therefore, I am scared of the security and stability of my country, because the morals have fallen and conscience is lost.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb