‘Fighting terror must be top priority’

‘Kuwait must take another look at granting aid to foreign countries’

“MOST countries are currently busy with the blight of terrorism and how to encounter this menace,” columnist and former Assistant Undersecretary at the Ministry of Education

wrote for Al-Rai day.

“Some countries have succeeded significantly in confronting this blight and this they achieved by halting the proliferation of this menace in their countries, while others are still upset about the prospective return of the terrorists because terrorist cells take every opportunity to resume their saboteur activities in countries wherever possible.

“In other words, terrorism is no longer linked to specific time or a limited phenomenon of temporary repercussions, rather it is a cancerous malady which is capable of spreading rapidly everywhere and as such this malady requires a well studied and accurate dose of medicine if the relevant countries want to eradicate the phenomenon of terrorism through various methods not only through the military, security or intelligence.

“In this context, terrorism should be fought in the framework of a blanket strategy taking into account informational dimensions, electronic and social media and the developed technology in addition to paying every possible concern to various political, economic, religious and psychological tendencies that may be prevalent in the relevant countries.

“In this connection, we say some of the difficulties currently facing some countries in terms of fighting terrorism are represented by a fact that some terrorists weave relations with some people who believe in the civilian State to conceal their extremist reality and eventually protect themselves with a human shield when the need arises.

“But the most complicated problem when it comes to fighting terrorism rests in a fact that terrorists who work within the framework of some groups or organizations which have specific schemes and objectives in addition to tremendous training potentials to carry out terrorist operations here and there, while some of these organizations and groups possess the latest technology through which they can easily have access to the websites of the vital oil installations, commercial, telecommunication institutions and so on in the countries they target.

“Apart from the above, some of these groups and organizations enjoy the ability to emotionally and intellectually change the people and persuade them to sanction killing and cause destruction in the name of religion.

“In the midst of all this some European countries are currently studying all aspects related to terrorism including intellectual extremism which helps people hate others -- people or religions.

“Not just that, we found the universities in both Europe and America have established specialized branches to conducting necessary studies that relate to both terrorism and religion to offer consultations, balanced and serious studies to governments in the political, media, social, cultural, security and religious fields.

“Although, we are the people who currently suffer the most from the menace of terrorism and extremism, we realize that the Arab region is one of the hotbeds for terrorism. And although we realize that ‘Creative Anarchy’ which the West has promoted in our Arab region still remains ingrained in the hearts of our children and the spirit of grudge, hatred, revenge and aggression, unfortunately our efforts to fight terrorism were not only modest, rather we have no specialist research centers to study the phenomenon of terrorism objectively from all aspects.

“In other words, we have failed to follow in the footsteps of other countries which suffered from terrorism but are now striving to protect themselves from this fatal blight.

“Speaking of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States which currently battle terrorism because they are suffering from this menace, the GCC countries have yet to think of founding a unified centre to fighting terrorism at the level of member States.

“This we say because we know the establishment of a proposed centre in the framework of GCC and in the State of Kuwait, shall definitely help provide member States with the latest data on terrorism and moreover, this centre will coordinate and cooperate efforts with similar other centers worldwide to exert every possible effort to fight terrorism everywhere, because this blight currently grips the minds of various countries of the world to such an extent these countries at the moment have made fighting terrorism their top priorities.”

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“In 2009, I visited Brussels within the Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation to hold meetings with the European Parliament,” columnist and former MP

wrote for Al-Qabas daily. “During this visit I actually observed the Arab and Muslim existence in general and that of the Arabs from North Africa in particular. Not just what drew my attention was the deep rooted existence of Arabs and Mus- lims and the contributions they made to help the Belgian capital develop. Most importantly these Muslims and Arab enjoyed good reputation.

“With regard to the terrorist operations which were carried out in Belgium’s well secured institutions such as the airport and the metro train, they actually represent a terrorist action by all means, where this operation was carried out immediately after the arrest of the Paris bombing mastermind.

“But unfortunately, the finger of accusation for the terrorist operations in question, has been pointed out at the Arab region, particularly since we know that the Europeans are currently facing an ordeal in the form of the flow of refugees into their countries which can be deemed as the first of its kind since the World War II.

“Terrorism has stretched from Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen to the heart of Europe as if this terrorism is sending a message to the Europeans urging them not to sympathize with moderate Islam.

“Moreover, this terrorism has created a rightist extremist current in the world against Muslims and the outcome of the municipal elections held recently in Germany is a testimony of this situation because the ruling party of the incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel is known for sympathizing with the issue of refuges.

“Given the above, we expect the rightist extremist currents to persist and foster which constitute a threat to humanity, particularly since we know that one of the presidential candidates in US elections is currently adopting the extremist thought and as such we expect this phenomenon to likely stretch to Europe although the latter is always known for its moderate attitudes in dealing with the Middle Eastern issues.

“It is needless to say terrorism at the moment has strengthened at the expense of the peaceful and moderate thought and as such we the Arabs and Muslims must realize that it is terrorism which has resulted in many countries of the world placing them in the column of foes.

“This happens although all of us are definitely against extremism and fanaticism because the latter has served only the enemies of the nation.”

“During the luncheon organized by Dr Mohammad Sabah Salem in honor of Dr Joseph Sassoon -- an American citizen of Iraqi origin and researcher in Georgetown University, we heard the reasons behind the events and wars which occurred in the region starting from the uprising of 14 Iraqi governorates in 1991 until the fall of Baghdad in 2003. He made the compilation after perusing thousands of tape recordings, videos and documents transferred to Hoover Institution,” columnist

wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“Concerning the Iraqi-Iranian War in 1980, videos of the Iraqi Revolution Council showed Saddam Hussein informing the council members of his intention to invade Iran while it did not show any objection by the council. Saddam Hussein, as shown in the video, thought that the war on Iran will not last for more than six days because of the sudden airstrikes and the ground attack. He thought that if the Iraqi forces rushed into Iran, the Iranians will rise up to topple the regime.

“In this context, researcher Kenneth Pollack, in his book ‘Arabs at War’, said the Iraqi strategy in invading Iran is one of the most talked about as the Iraqi leadership spread its forces along borders stretching 1,000 kilometers. This is in addition to gradually delving into the Iranian depth which gave the Iranian Forces a chance to prepare and confront their enemy.

“On the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Sassoon listened to the recording of the meeting between Saddam Hussein and the American ambassador at the time. He said a translation mistake made by Saddam Hussein led to the misunderstanding that the USA will not use military power against Iraq in case it invades Kuwait. According to Sassoon, what is worse than the translation mistake is the misunderstanding of Saddam Hussein who told his companions that the USA has nothing to do with his invasion of Kuwait because it did not threaten him by using force.

“To conclude, I call on officials of Kuwait and other Gulf countries to send researchers and scholars to Hoover Institution to get as much as they can out of the thousands of documents and records about the regime of Saddam Hussein which had a big influence on the region for decades, including the Iraqi role in the Lebanese civil war as well as the war of Michel Aoun on Lebanon and Syria as per the instructions of Saddam Hussein.

“The comprehensive study carried out by Professor Sassoon highlighted similarities among regimes in the region since 1952 such as injustice, spread of corruption, repression and appointment of officials regardless of their qualifications.”

“Dr Ahmad Al-Khateeb wrote a brilliant article published by Al-Jaridah daily on March 3, 2016 through which he called for participation in the coming parliamentary elections as a way towards change,” columnist

wrote for Al- Qabas daily.

“Nobody can doubt Al-Khateeb’s sincerity, patriotism and devotion to the country considering his fruitful career as a parliamentary member and first-rate opposition. His article opened doors for discussions on the role and influence of the opposition in the National Assembly. Some described the opposition as the salt which gives flavor to food, while others in certain countries called it the ‘shadow government’. At any rate, the opposition’s task is not to reject every action taken by the government as it rather regulates governmental performance and limits the undesired consequences of certain decisions.

“It is essential to say that a successful politician deals with situations not as he wants them to be. Through this concept, we see the difference between Al-Khateeb and Ahmad Al-Saadoun who claims all those who will participate in the coming elections are joining forces to enact laws that protect those engaged in corruption.

“The eagerness of the previous parliamentary majority to return to the Parliament is a hopeless case. Therefore, there is no other way for the reformers to enter the Parliament but through active participation in the coming elections.”

“At a time the price of oil has collapsed everywhere in the world, including Kuwait, a majority of oil producing countries have decided to take another look at granting credits to foreign countries,” the situation is completely the opposite in our country,” columnist wrote for Annahar daily.

“The grants, loans and gifts continue to pour out of Kuwait at the expense of citizens. The best indicators of this are the crisis of failure to create more courses and non-availability of sections at institutes and colleges of the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training during the summer semester.

“The situation precipitated demonstration by students who could not graduate early due to the decision.

“Today, we want to urge the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development to quickly approve aid and grant to Kuwait for various services in the country, chiefly among which is the educational services.

“This is very necessary considering that crisis of admission in the university has been knocking on the doors. The Kuwait University is the only public university in the country since its establishment in the 1960s and the fund has been executing many educational projects outside the country.

“Therefore, the fund should make domestic assistance its priority rather than proffering solutions that will deplete the pockets of the citizens.”

“The world in the 1940s witnessed a dangerous principle whereby the German-Nazis annexed some neighboring countries, changed the system of governments in those countries and appointed their proxies as presidents to execute their agendas,” columnist and Ambassador

wrote for Al-Jarida daily. “That policy led to World War II for which the entire world paid dearly in terms of losing millions of lives, while many others were displaced and deformed. Many cities were destroyed, while some countries became extinct and others disintegrated. In the 1950s, the Soviet Union applied the same policy. It occupied some countries in its surroundings and changed their governments and appointed presidents that executed Moscow’s agendas.

“It is pathetic to see our region becoming a source of worry, danger and disturbance to the entire world.

“The negative phenomena now take root from the region in the form of bloody terrorist groups who carry out their deeds in the name of religion.

“Here we will ask a bitter question. Why is this much hatred among the followers of doctrines and religious leaders in Islam, especially among the Sunnis and Shiites? This misunderstanding and conflict started over 1,400 years ago and nobody knows when it will end.”

“In the last few days and weeks, several bombings have taken place, and the most notable incident was the one in Istanbul followed by explosions in Brussels, the capital city of Belgium. I call the two bombings in which several innocent people lost their lives as ‘Brusenbul’, columnist

wrote for Al-Rai daily. “Whenever explosions happen, it is prudent not to accuse anybody without having in hand any clear evidence or confession, because it could be a government’s conspiracy aimed at gaining public support in whatsoever actions the authority is planning to justify or military intervention or rather taking a leap in against this or that.

“Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko who wrote a book after defecting from Russia to seek refuge in Britain, where he was assassinated in the end, made certain revelations and mentioned that Russian secret service orchestrated a bombing in Russia with the purpose of blaming Chechnya to justify its assault on Chechnya.

“It is bewildering to see some people, including leaders and officials, expressing compassionate solidarity with Belgium or France amid the terrorist attacks, but very humble voices are heard when it comes to Istanbul.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb