Leader’s attitude could lead to US bankruptcy, loss of friends

“THE way in which the US president deals with the Arab world, especially the Gulf states, is disgusting,” columnist, professor at Kuwait University’s Political Science Department and former MP Dr Hassan Abdullah Jowhar wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“Succumbing to this kind of rhetoric is certainly encouraging the man to go further and practice political thuggery and hurl insults without giving in to any diplomatic etiquette or political morals that reflects the image and prestige of the United States as the world’s superpower.

“Donald Trump’s behavior looks disgusting in general even with his American opponents and this is reflected in his campaign not only against Democratic candidates but even with his rivals within the Republican Party, but his way of lip-smacking was echoed in the same way and level regardless of the consequences of such rhetoric.

“Trump started his campaign by insulting the Gulf states and promised voters that he would extort these countries financially and deal with them like a dairy cow to be slaughtered after plundering all their ‘wealth’.

“However, for the time being it looks like he is carrying out his threats in an organized manner and will not hesitate to issue orders to collect the value of the invoice related to all his policies in the region from the Gulf states.

“But to see him reaching this level of dealing with the governments of the region when he said these governments cannot stand for a week without the protection of the United States is disgraceful and inappropriate political behavior which cannot be applied even on the adversaries, so how can he deal with allies and friends in this manner.

“Our region is situated in the circles of danger and tension. The alliance with the major powers, including the United States, may be one of regional security strategies, but we must not lose sight of international balances and, more importantly, examine regional security from the perspective of the interests of the countries concerned in the region and activate the diplomatic dialogue in total transparency.

“Apart from the above, we must look at America’s positions throughout history in betraying its allies and abandoning them during the most difficult circumstances.

“In this context, at the height of the Cold War, the

Jowhar

United States turned its back on its closest friends and allowed the then Soviet Communism to devour them one by one in the East and West of the world and the Latin American continent.

“Such being the case, we reserve the right to wonder why Trump is backtracking on threats against the European Union, Japan, Russia, China, North Korea, Canada and Mexico, while behaving like a lion with the Gulf states after every ‘meal’ of billions of dollars.

“Not only that, after each meal, he is immediately taking some decisions in favor of Israel, defying the feelings of hundreds of millions of Arabs and Muslims, in violation of all international laws.

“We do not want to dispute the United States as a global might, a world economy, a superpower or its peaceful people because of the election of a president who is about to win dozens of suspicions, but he must learn lessons in ethics and political literature and must keep in mind that as far as our governments are in need of him from the military and security point of view, he is also in need of our funds and this is the only merit of his current administration and the American people to tolerate his madness, otherwise he (Trump) will be financially bankrupt in addition to his frank political bankruptcy.”

“The American President Donald Trump is a freak personality full of contradictory shortsighted attitudes,” columnist Dr Adel Hamad Al-Roumi wrote for Annahar daily.

“With such personality he sometimes uses the blackmailing tone in his day to day dealing with the Gulf states. Not only that, his repeated ‘tweets’ center on ‘pay…pay’, linked to complementary word ‘Iran…Iran’.

“Nonetheless, all of us are against the Islamic Republic of Iran interfering in the internal affairs of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) peaceful member states. In the meantime, we know that Iran strives to impose its influence in the region.

“But this does not give the US right to provoke these states as if the latter are incapable of defending themselves. These states actually possess the necessary might and influence, but they do not prefer to use the same, simply because both their leaderships and peoples are peaceful and have no desire towards expansionism and domination.

“It is needless to say the repeated provocations of Trump against the Gulf states is to request more money and leave those who follow the political affairs under impression about the shortsightedness of Mr. President, particularly in terms of his strategies in dealing with his allies in the region.

“However, does President Trump know that there is a second, third and fourth power in the world? Does he know that the Gulf states due to his exceeding provocations will be in a position to leave the American camp and select an alternative and competitive camp, ‘Russia’?

“In this context, we suggest that the prospective coalition between the Gulf states and Russia is likely to constitute a unique opportunity to for an alternative power ‘Russia’ and achieve the necessary reconciliation between Iran and the Gulf states.

“This is because through such a prospective coalition, Russia will be friend of both parties — the Gulf states and Iran and as such the region, will enter a new age of peaceful Gulf/Iranian coalition on the basis of the joint interests based on the political convention, how the enemy of today will be transformed into a friend tomorrow.

“However, if this happened, then the US will lose huge generous financial support from the Arabian Gulf states directly and indirectly mostly represented by the concluding of weapons deals, investments, sovereign and US Treasury bonds and so on.”

“I never imagined I would live to see a person defending cheating, and again, tolerate his call for application of lighter punishments against anyone resorting to the disgraceful act that adversely affects and afflicts not only the person cheating but the whole society,” columnist Mohammad Al-Saddani wrote for Al Rai daily.

“I was surprised to see a group of students holding a protest in front the office of the Minister of Education and the Parliament demanding the minister to change the mechanism of dealing with cheating, because according to them, it was unjust. I am appalled and astonished with the way one of the protesting students dared made such utterances, which no sane person can utter.

“Cheating is a precursor in establishing the principles of corruption that destroys nations, so the ministry’s stance in enforcing deterrence measures and tightening punishments on this destructive phenomenon is lauded, despite its many failures in countless files.

“The deterioration of ethics due to cheating is a matter of great significance that no society should bear the consequences and negative effects, because after cheating the cheat will relinquish all traits such as honesty, sincerity and respect, without which a person can be called human being?

“We need to fix the bad ethics and misconduct in our children that cause the slackness in applying rules and regulations, in addition to corruption within some educational departments that facilitate destructive traits. I wish a table is added to the certificate of a cheating-graduatestudent to shed light on the number of times he cheated.”

“I congratulate Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Cultural Center for winning Mid-International Magazine’s Best Cultural and Heritage Center in GCC Award—architecture and construction category,” Professor Latifa Hussein Al-Kanderi wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“I also wish to congratulate the center and extend profound appreciation for successfully organizing its activities to the delight of thousands of visitors. I attended the evening of folklore music of the 80s titled “Where are you going this evening”, and enjoyed a top quality world class opera music that befits status of that center with sonorous rhythms and classical artistic activities.

“An important question is necessary at this point. What were the factors that contributed to the waves made by Kuwait TV in achieving so much within the regional media right from the early fifties till the eighties? How can we raise the ceiling of our brilliant achievements to avoid being left behind the time?”

“The issue of reckless driving and attack on security operatives have become a source of pride to some youth who derive joy in violating rules and regulations while exposing lives of other people to danger,” Khalid AlArafah wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“The idea of recklessness has become fun to those reckless youth while they see residential areas as the right car racing tracks where they can display their failed skills, which usually ends up in calamity. Ministry of Interior has a load of responsibility to bear in terms of wiping out this phenomenon that is fast spreading within the nooks and crannies of Kuwait. The officials need to institute plans and mechanism to control the situation.

“Security operatives have become enemies of those violators, which can be explained best through deliberate documented attacks on some officers during a previous incident. Ridiculing security operatives is catastrophic and infringement on authority of the operatives, so a drastic action must be taken by creating precedence for the rule of law and hold the perpetrators accountable for their acts.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb