Strike timing tactical in nature

Decisions taken cover demands of citizens, specialists

“SOME people say that a third world war is on the horizon, that it is raging in Syria, and that the AmericanRussian confrontation will be its spark, that shall annihilate everything on our planet,” columnist, professor at Kuwait University’s Political Science Department, an Advisor to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Secretary General of the Arab Fund for Human Rights Professor Dr Ghanim Al-Najjar wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“In modern history there were two world wars (according to the term), the World War 1 actually began in Europe, following the assassination of the Crown Prince of Austria and Hungary in Sarajevo by a Yugoslav nationalist in 1914 and lasted from 1914 to 1918 and ended with the conclusion of Versailles treaty (in France).

“The Second World War is said to be the result of the First World War and this war also, which lasted for 6 years from 1939 to 1945, also began in Europe and was joined later by America. This war ended with the victors meeting at the ‘Dumbarton Oaks’ in California to establish the United Nations.

“The forecasters (not the meteorologists or fortune tellers) defied some dates of the ‘Third World War.’ They not only talked about in detail about the war, including the place where it will break out, they also shed light on the damages the war will cause in addition to the victims.

“In this context, we say even the strategists from time to time set forth their expectations over the eruption of a third world war by relying on the events and the historical precedence, but nothing happened since the end of the World War II.

“However, during this period, the world was on the verge of a third world war or so it was thought, and this happened about 11 times, perhaps the most important of which was the Korean War (in May and June 1953).

“Perhaps the moments when the world held its breath was during the so-called international relations of the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962 sometimes referred to as ‘the edge of the catastrophe.’

“However, the ‘Third World War’ did not occur, but it turned out that during the crisis in question, the two great powers the then Soviet Union and the United States of America, had concluded some strategic deals between them.

“Now we are part of the Syrian and regional scene. We live in a disastrous state. In Syria there are regular armies of seven foreign countries or perhaps more. There are militias from every place you imagine or do not imagine.

“The humanitarian situation in Syria is the worst in terms of refugees, displaced persons and civilians, and they are seemingly placed at the bottom of the major and regional countries, including the Syrian regime itself.

“In this connection, I would like to say that more than one media asked me this question: ‘Do you believe that the timing of the strike that was carried out by America, Britain, and France in Syria coincided with the convening of the Arab Council Board meeting was strategic and tactical in meaning?

“Personally speaking, I guess the strike falls within the American, British, French, Russian, Iranian and Turkish and some others’ sphere of mutual understanding, hence I would call it tactical in nature. But we would like to take into account that holding of the Arab summit, actually seems to be irrelevant, rather I believe the strikers had basically forgotten that the Arab League Council was holding a meeting.

“Such being the case, there are no indications that the third world war will begin in Syria, because those who are currently managing the affairs of the world are just a handful of heartless and senseless traffickers and as such they don’t care about the torment of humans.”

Al-Najjar

“Anyone who follows what happened recently in Syria – use of internationally forbidden weapons as well the limited missiles strike carried out by America, Britain and France can be classified as a narcotic dose that will quieten the situation for a specific period and as such every party will be in a position to benefit from the same accordingly,” columnist Qais Al-Asta wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“In other words, the supporters of the Syrian regime will claim President Bashar Al-Assad is the victim of universal colonialism and as such the support of Iran and Russia to the current Syrian regime falls within encountering the imperialistic avarices, forgetting or ignoring that this regime has killed hundreds of thousands of people with chemical weapons and dropping barrel bombs in addition to torturing and persecuting that can be deemed as the first of its kind in the world.

“In the meantime, this regime will feel satisfied to some extent and hope that the US caretaker is still in line and will most likely direct some more strikes against Syria and probably also Iran.

“For its part, the US caretaker will not remain quiet, rather it will invest the satisfaction shown by the anti-Syria, Iran and Russia axis by sending them a big invoice for the purchase of civil and military aircraft in addition to tanks, armored personnel vehicles and even machine-guns.

“However, between those who depict the regime of Al-Assad as martyr in a sacred war and those who believe that Iran was behind all the ordeals and standing against Tehran is a duty.

“Here, we have forgotten the most important thing than all the above that the Syrian people have suffered a lot from the killer regime, while others believe that the most important priorities in this connection are standing against Iran and forgetting even temporarily the other issues topped by the Zionist crimes against the Palestinians.

“Anyway, we in this part of the world need to return to the humanitarian spirit, its importance and sanctity irrespective of the religion of this spirit or its sect.

“We need to realize that our interests are common and our differences which initially look like sectarian, but in fact are not, rather it is a war of interests currently marketed by the leaders of the two parties.

“Not only that, this war has also taken place under the auspices of some clerics who do not fear Almighty God. However, to be fair, these clerics belong to both sides.”

“In just three days, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah, who presided over a meeting with the Supreme Council for Planning and another with the Environment Supreme Council, dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s to launch a new phase of decision-making in a manner that promises a better future and unprecedented qualitative leap in governmental work,” Abdulrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.

“Several significant decisions were taken during the first meeting with the Supreme Council for Planning such as development of the executive system, rationalization of expenditures, improvement of governmental performance, restructuring of the state’s executive system, and activating the private sector.

“In the second meeting with the Environment Supreme Council, a number of important decisions were taken such as installation of temporary rainwater and sewage water treatment stations and necessary steps to protect and rehabilitate Kuwaiti Bay as well as prepare a timetable for providing fuel alternatives in the stations.

“Anyone who follows the governmental work will realize that these decisions were taken in a single meeting without the need for further deliberations, and that they cover the demands of citizens and specialists.”

“There was a strong rumor spreading across the country recently concerning purported government resignation. However, we wish to affirm that there is not an iota of truth in the rumor. Therefore, the honorable ministers whose names were included among those who were reported to have resigned should stay calm,” Talal Al-Saeed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“The government quickly dispelled the rumor, and the concerned authorities started looking for the source of that rumor in order to charge that individual with spreading false news to create chaos in the country. Reportedly, the source has been identified to draw curtain on the issue!

“I will like to pose a question to the honorable ministers whose names were included in the list of those suspected to have resigned. Why did people in Kuwait spread the rumor on their resignation so quickly that it went viral on the social media such that all social media users in Kuwait got the news within an hour?

“We are affirming here that the news was not true. It was a mere rumor so that we are not held accountable, because all of them still retain their seats strongly.

“As for source of the rumor, to hell with him! However, what about the massive messages circulated among Kuwaitis with which they celebrated the news as if they sighted the holy month moon? The only message we can deduce from this fake news is that Kuwaitis are not happy with the poor performances of the concerned ministers.”

“We watched the Director General of Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) discussing recently on KTV channel about creation of an application called “Kuwait Finder” to ease the search for addresses of houses and offices as well as facilitate other matters in the State of Kuwait,” Mohammad Jassem Al-Sedah wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“I, as a citizen, am surprised that the director general used an expression for this innovation in a foreign language, precisely English, by calling it “Kuwait Finder.” It would have been better to give it an Arabic title such as the telephone directory “Ibhath ma’ana” (Search with us) or any other Arabic expression that could denote the purpose.

“Several Kuwaitis had followed the same approach adopted by the PACI’s director general. They used expressions in foreign language at the expense of Arabic language as if Kuwait does not have a language. In fact, Arabic is one of the best languages in the world. It is enough an honor that the Holy Quran was revealed in Arabic to preserve it until eternity.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb