‘Saudi calm, rational attitude wins accolades’

‘Iran adamant, looking for conflict’

“ONLY a few people have appreciated the calm and rational Saudi attitude in confronting the Iranian attack on the Saudi oil installations – the world’s largest oil treatment plants of Aramco in Abqaiq and Khurais – which some consider as the lung of the world oil supply,” columnist Dr Abdulmohsen Hamada wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“Following this incident many countries in the world showed signs of panic because the damage could prevent the smooth flow of oil.

“But during the press conference that was held by the Saudi minister of energy in the presence of Aramco Chairman of the Board of Directors and the executive chairman of the company many countries were assured when the Aramco officials informed that the company had resumed its output at the level prior to the attack and that no customers would be affected.

“The minister confirmed that Aramco will resort to its big oil storage to offset shortage to customers until remedying the damage caused by the Iranian terrorist attack.

“Not just that, the minister and his accompanying team during this press conference looked professional and this was evident through their commitment to answer all questions related to the oil issue by sidelining questions of political and military nature.

“For his part, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin Abdulaziz during his meeting with the Bahraini monarch King Hamad Bin Issa Al-Khalifa emphasized that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is capable of handling the effects of the devastating attack on the Kingdom, its stability and the global energy supplies.

“Apart from the above, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia confirmed its rational stance and this was evident when the Saudi authorities called for investigation by the world to probe the heathenish aggression, the quality and the source of the weapons used in the attack.

“The Saudi writer Abdurrahman Al-Rashed in his article to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (Middle East), said ‘Just a few days prior to the Iranian aggression on the Kingdom, some news came from Iraq that the pro-Iran armed organizations in Iraq will attack some US interests, and the relevant news bore signs of credibility because the attack was launched from Iraq.’

“In this context, I think the recent visit paid by the Iraqi prime minister to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was aimed at denying this news report and to confirm that Iraq will not allow a third party to wage any aggression on his neighbors from its territories.

“But the problem in this connection, can be represented by the fact that there are some armed Iraqi militias which have declared allegiance to Iran where the Iraqi government has not as yet managed to dominate these militias.

“In this connection, we refer to a speech that was delivered by the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sept 22, 2019 during a military parade which was held to mark the beginning of the Iraq-Iran war in which Rouhani said he is proud of the Iranian existence and influence in many Arab countries including Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Palestine.

“He added Iran will submit a plan to the United Nations to guarantee security in both the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, under the name ‘The Hope’.

“Apart from the above, Rouhani, called on the foreign troops to leave the Gulf states, claiming the existence of these troops was the cause of the problems and the torment which currently prevail in the region, adding that this part of the world will enjoy more security following the departure of these troops.

Dr Hamada

“Given the above and based on the Iranian speech in question, it is obvious that the Iranian regime is still obstinate and adamant, and looks like Tehran is thirsty for war.

“It is needless to say the world is smarter than the Iranian regime, because the world realizes that the Iranian regime is striving to drag the region into war that shall leave behind a lot of victims.

“Such being the case, we found how the Iranian obstinacy has conduced to the imposition of strict sanctions on the Iranian regime and how the entire world has sympathized with the Saudi calm and rational attitude.”

Also:

“I feel hesitant when I write about the Iranian danger which threatens the Gulf states, because the necessity entails that I hold myself above that means that are likely to be exploited to promote doctrinal sedition, particularly since we know that Iran has succeeded in keeping some people linking the belief in the Shiite doctrine – which we believe and appreciate – and the commitment to its (Iran) political directions and the method of its political leaders,” columnist Dr Ali Abdurrahman Al-Huwail wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“However, I found myself reluctant to pen these lines, because Iran still insists to go ahead in its aggressive attitudes towards the Gulf states and the Arab states at large, by exploiting their weaknesses which surfaced following the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ in a way that even Israel had never dared to exploit, particularly since we know that the Arab world has classified Israel as the first danger.

“As a matter of fact, the obvious fact shows that it is Iran which currently represents the biggest danger at the current phase from the Gulf and the Arab nation history.

“In other words, the Arab nation’s struggle against Israel is a struggle among military powers, but Iran has transformed the struggle into a threat aiming to dismantle the Gulf communities and promote the destructive sedition in addition to its military dimension.

“Such being the case, the situation calls for evaluating the doctrinal factor and its effect on the Gulf communities and work to unify these communities against Iran as a state, but not against the Shiite doctrine, because this is something related to Almighty Allah, but nobody harbors any enmity against this doctrine or anybody would like to ignore or exclude the same.

“In this connection, we cite the stance of the Lebanese Islamic Council’s Secretary General Al-Sayed Muhammad Al-Husseini who is one of the Arab Shiite Imams who still opposes the Iranian expansionist project in the Arab world and has called for the adoption of a collective stand to be based on deeds in terms of rejecting the Iranian project, but not on reactions only.

“However, Iran currently remains isolated by most countries of the world making it currently the weakest state particularly in terms of its military might it is needless to say that its doctrinal effect must be cordoned.

“It is Iran which since the very beginning of its revolution has issued calls for supporting the rights of the Palestinians, but it is ironical that it has never over the past 40 years of its revolution has fired a single shot at Israel, rather it has exploited the absence of the Arab public opinion and the naiveté of some of the components in the Arab world to expand its influence to such an extent it continues to dominate some Arab states at the political, economic and military levels, and is currently threatening all Gulf states.”

“The crashing floor of the Sixth Ring Road should not pass unnoticed and the justification given by concerned authorities cannot be accepted, because acceptance means silence on a bigger scandal the country will face in the coming weeks when the rainy season begins,”

wrote

for Sattam Ahmed Al-Seyassah daily.

“It will be a repetition of last year’s catastrophe that exposed a real collapse in the system of services and rate of mismanagement.

“This is enough to lead in any country other than Kuwait to the departure of the government, not only the minister concerned. The companies and engineering offices that oversaw the implementation of projects would have been held accountable but it’s unfortunate that the disaster turned a storm in the cup of accounting, ended in deals and settlements. Soon, it appeared in the crashing of floor few days ago on the Sixth Ring Road.

“This disregard for public money and services is caused by lack of belief that public service is a national service, and not personal benefit or it’s justified to obtain a share of the wealth through which many employees do not perform their job perfectly but seek to make the job a source of wealth personality and no more.

“This concept that prevails in the majority of state institutions is the real reason for the failure of services and mismanagement

“It has led to a series of large crises and pushed the country to this dire situation, as the majority of projects are not implemented according to the required specifications. The performance in public institutions is very poor, while ministers and MPs are working to pass on their personal benefits, unconcerned about Kuwaitis who are now between the anvil of corruption and the hammer of slogans, and the promises that go mirage at the first deal between the parliament and the government.

“What happened on the Sixth Ring is a warning bell for all. First of all the MPs who will find themselves in front of the ballot boxes that really express the pain of Kuwaitis.

“The ministers will not even be accepted from the people closest to them, because whoever broke his oath reneged on his promises and dealt with Kuwaitis as a herd that are meant for sale before he wronged Kuwaitis.

“Therefore, everyone should take what happened on the Sixth Ring as a clear signal that sounded an alarm for the difficult account in the ballot boxes and in dealing with ministers”.

Al-Jarallah

“A few months ago, I talked about the level of pollution suffered by Britain and how it reached a normal air quality index through specific time-bound solutions, Dr Turki Al-Azmi wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“A dear colleague conveyed to me his concern about air pollution in Kuwait. The US Embassy has installed air quality monitors, and according to the Air Quality Index, it is clear that last Saturday’s reading at 11 pm indicates we fall within the range of unhealthy air given that 105 -150 rates the air impure for sensitive groups - including people suffering from heart and lung diseases, children and elderly people.

“The question to the Ministry of Information, Environment Public Authority and concerned parties is: Why isn’t the air quality index published in the weather forecast- as it is applicable in developed countries? Why are the stakeholders not looking into the causes of our air pollution? Which one has the highest priority: paying large sums to the Ministry of Health for allergy medicines, asthma and others or installing air quality monitoring devices, analyzing their results, investigating their causes and eliminating them?

“I think we should address the causes of the growing number of people with asthma, allergies and respiratory diseases by first clearing the air of pollutants rather than bringing drugs that don’t address the underlying problem. The US Embassy monitoring device measures air around the embassy in a statement. What about the air in congested areas, industrial areas, and adjacent to the oil installations? I think the index will be higher than 105?

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb