‘N.korea threats hold no water’
‘Roles reversed since division’
“THE threats issued by North Korea should not at all be taken seriously because in every region on our planet there are some people who want to prevent others from thinking about their interests and eventually harm themselves and a testimony to this is found in the Arab world when some Arabs preferred to support some despotic and tyrant rulers in the region and the world – leaders such as Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Muammar AlGaddafi and so on,” columnist, Chairman of Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) and former Minister of Information Sami Al-Nesf wrote for Al-Anba daily Monday.
“Moreover, these people were seemingly groomed to put up strong fights against the people of the ‘free world’ who believed in the promotion of democracy, freedom and human rights.
“Since 1910 until 1945, the Korean Peninsula was colonized by the Japanese. However, following the end of the World II, Korea was divided into North and South, the former a rich country with an area of 120,000 square kilometers and a population which did not exceed nine million and the South poor with an area of 100,000 square kilometers and a population of 21 million.
“But after just a few decades, the situations changed totally in the two Koreas with the South becoming a capitalist and very rich country with a national income exceeding $1.6 trillion per annum and a population of about 50 million, while North Korea during the same period transformed into dictatorial and communist nation, suffered from poverty and national income not exceeding $40 billion per annum and a population of 24 million most of them suffering from poverty these days. The change in both Koreas can be attributed to the nature of political regimes in both countries.
“In January 1950, the United States of America realized it is likely to be dragged into a war against the North Korea, so it formed a unified military command for the Far East countries sans South Korea and this encouraged North Korea to invade its neighbor which resulted in the fall of its capital Seoul within a few hours.
“However, the UN Security Council held an extraordinary session during which it adopted a resolution to liberate South Korea in accordance with Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The then Soviet Union representative to the UN walked out of the session instead of resorting to the veto power.
“In the wake of this development an international coalition consisting of 16 countries led by the United States of America was formed to wage a war on North Korea although Pyongyang was supported by the then Soviet Union and China.
“Ironically, the North Korean troops that had invaded South Korea were led by the Russian Colonel Dolgan while the UN troops were led by the Russian General Vasilyv and this resulted in many people commenting on the development saying ‘it is the war which has no secrets to conceal’.
“In this context, we cite the then war correspondent Mohammad Hasanin Haikal who wrote for his Egyptian AlAhram newspaper on Sept 13, 1950 that the attack on North Korea by the then international coalition was imminent and the attack took place two days prior to the predicted date.
“But what was strange is what occurred on the sidelines of the said war — a decision taken by the then US president Harry Truman to sack General Douglas McArthur who had watered down the president’s plan to end the war as swiftly as possible.
“According to the plan the bridges linking North Korea with China had to be destroyed and then mobilize half a million soldiers from Taiwan to cross the China Sea and then occupy the Chinese capital which was then known as Peking that was occupied a few months ago prior to the eruption of the war with North Korea by the Chinese Community Party leader Mao Tse-tung.”
Also: “The media is trying at the moment to conceal a dangerous nuclear escalation which is represented in the current Korean/American struggle, particularly in the wake of a dangerous surprise declaration by the North Korean television over the signing of plans by Korean President Kim Jong Eun to attack the United States of America with nuclear weapons. This development has created a state of dismay in the United States of America,” columnist Amin Behbehani wrote for Al-Qabas daily Monday.
“In this context, we say some US officials believe the North Korean leader shall resort to the ‘A crazy in the neighborhood’ strategy.
“It is worth mentioning the Korean case shows the defect which currently besets the current international order – the order in which various political regimes look at one another with suspicious eyes and doubts and in such situations each regime strives to bring down the other and this has brought the world on the verge of calamity.
“This happens although there are some ‘civil weapons’ that could be used during struggles to topple the regimes, weapons such as the economic sanctions and depriving the boycotted country from developing technology. Besides, the world can resort to ‘the media war’ in a bid to undermine the image of the targeted political regime and then work to topple the latter.
“Whatever the case may be, it seems the current ‘childish international’ situation shows there are some prejudicial factors which still govern international political relations and this entails that the world political order should be thoroughly reviewed in a bid to allow every country which has a specific political vision over the social, political and economic system to go ahead in its vision if it wants to bask in peace and security away from international threats.”
“Many comments and opinions have been made regarding the unified media bill which will be discussed during the sixth session of the National Assembly in May,” columnist Mudaffar Abdullah wrote for Al-Jaridah daily
“However, the main point of contention is between those who support and those who oppose the bill. They are involved in a political stance related to the one vote decree even though there are some technicalities that need to be freely addressed, in addition to imposing monetary fines on those who will be working for and directing the media.
“One of the things that people need to know is that, the unified media bill is not something new; it came as a result of the Press and Publication and Audio Visual laws issued in 2006 and 2007, and the only thing new in this bill is the addition of an article concerning the electronic media. The addition of an article concerning the electronic media has become something important which will be used to curb the increasing inappropriate use of the social media communication by some individuals.
“Therefore, questions about that bill should be asked before tabling it in the Parliament so that it can deliver a clear message to both the authorities regarding the issue.
“I also hope one of the TV channels will host the minister of information to explain to us more and give his opinion on the bill, in addition to organizing seminars by local media outfits, so that those concerned can extensively discuss the issue.”
“As we are discussing the new media law, a sister sent a video tape of Dr Ahmad Al-Rubei speaking on KTV Channel 4 program on the arrest and imprisonment for three years of an Egyptian columnist for alleged malicious statements made against Islam and (former) president Hosni Mubarak,” columnist Meshari Abdullah Al-Hamad wrote for Alam Alyawm daily.
“He warned against the phenomenon concerning controversies among governments and the creators of electronic websites. He cited failed campaigns upon which former president George W. Bush had embarked to take shine off the e-websites and the ‘We Want It Five’ campaign with regards to the effect of the electronic sites to make it a success.
“He declared there was no budget for newspapers and TV stations, so the issue required only one person to make the move and act like the Information Ministry.
“He affirmed the governments will always be the losers in controversies with the e-websites, because any of them if shut down will re-open within the next few hours.
“He concluded that governments can only handle media issues through freedom of press rather than conflict, because human beings will always look for an alternative source to express their opinions.
“I believe the new media law will not see the light of day, because the National Assembly will reject it when it is presented on May 6, 2013, based on the wave of reactions from the media and society.”
“It looks like the catastrophe staring in the face of the entire world will soon become a reality. A report published by the Al-Rai newspaper April 12, 2013, quoting Israeli sources, revealed Israel feels the Syrian military has decided to use chemical weapons to prevent the Syrian freedom fighters from advancing into Damascus,” columnist Dr Wael AlHasawi wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“The report said the recent developments in Syria a few days ago have caused serious panic in military circles in Washington and Jerusalem, because they are sure that the use of chemical weapons in Syria will become a reality.
“The ‘Debca site’, which has close links to Israeli detectives, said fighting which erupted in Syria a few days ago is an indication that President Bashar AlAssad and his brother Maher, who control the 4th Battalion of the Republican Guards, have curtailed the dangers concerning advancement of the rebels into middle of the country’s capital.
“The only thing the report failed to disclose was the most likely possibility. The news is that the Syrian government might have obtained the green light from the US and Israel to use the chemical weapons in Damascus and nearby cities without having any effect outside Syria, as a means to suppress the resistance.
“The justification for the agreement is that Israel only cares about preventing the chemical weapons from entering its territories. The US and Israel do not care about the act of exterminating citizens by the tyrannical president.”
“The proposal submitted by the government to increase charges on services and utilities rendered by the state needs more serious review, far from agitation or reaction from a certain event,” columnist Farad Dawood Al-Sabah wrote for Annahar daily.
“The philosophy behind this move is not related to any concepts of contemporary administration. In fact, it goes against the reality in many ways. Firstly, the increase of levies on services and utilities is not based on current facilities, whether with regard to infrastructure, its capacity, size and tax or revenues that the government receives in return.
“Secondly, no future readings of the development of the real-estate, population and services are available. Thirdly, the increase does not take into consideration individual income and individual expenditure on the minimum wages, and to what extent can an individual bear extra expenses.
“Before anything else, the results from the studies done in recent years should be taken into account, especially after the endorsement of cadre and salary adopted on election basis and not economical basis.
“In addition to that, how promising is our only income resource in the future, given that in 2020, Kuwait’s budget will be almost KD 35 billion, equating it with the population growth estimated to be 1.8 or 2 million if all goes well.
“In reality, the burden on public fund due to consumers’ expenditure will increase, not ignoring the fact that the price of oil might drop to up to $75 per barrel.
“In short, the best solution should come from developing and enhancing all services and designating some of these developments as trial models for some years, and then after that, the discussion about raising charges can be initiated or even imposed on services which are currently rendered free of charge.
“In other words, the development and modernization of the infrastructure means the increase of construction projects which will open the job market or increase economic activity, in order to enable the people of Kuwait to participate in paying the cost of that development and growth without increasing the burden on him.”
“Those who have been keenly following the political and social scenarios in the country over the past three months will realize that the former prime minister Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad Al-Sabah is conspicuously active and appears in major events,” columnist Dr Salah Al-Fadhli wrote for Al-Kuwaitiah daily.
“Sheikh Nasser has not only been present in major official events but also receives official delegations from various places, last of which was the hosting of the Iraqi Parliament leader Osama AlNujaefi.
“He has also visited several countries as personal representative of HH the Amir, apart from a series of interactions at social functions, visit to tribal leaders and hosting personalities from inside and outside Kuwait. He has been receiving visitors at his Diwaniya every Wednesday since the mid of last month.
“The recent busy schedules of Sheikh Nasser indicates that the man has decided to make a return into the political terrain. At this point, we must behold and think about the implications of such a return. The impression created on the political front indicates Sheikh Nasser is not using his return to become the prime minister but to become the Crown Prince at the appropriate time.
“He will not get the position on gold platter because he has a strong contender in the person of the current Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, so behind the scenes there has been a struggle between them.
“According to leaked information, Sheikh Nasser prefers the Foreign Affairs Minister to become the prime minister rather than Sheikh Jaber, because the former would not be a ‘thorn’ in his path to becoming the Crown Prince.”
“People who were earlier criticizing the crisis provokers have themselves become the current crisis provokers while those who called for calmness and gave the government enough time to work are the ones clamoring for the ouster of some ministers – ministers who have not spent sufficient time in their offices,” Jassem Mohammad AlShimmari wrote for Annahar daily.
“What has changed the minds of the people who looked upon the new government and its system as a gateway to nation building? They thought the Cabinet would serve as a safety valve to protect the relationship between the two authorities and prevent an outbreak of crises and thus help get rid of obstacles which were placed in their path. The same people are now serving as objects of division between the two authorities and even among the ministers.
“There are no Al-Barraks in the Parliament, there are no Mislems, Tahouses or Shuaibs and there is no presence of the Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM) also. The Parliament is full of people who are elected based on strong conviction that they would all support the government and rescue the nation from political abyss.”