‘US pullout to bring turmoil’
‘Gift for Russia’s Putin’
“THE decision taken recently by the US President Donald Trump to pull out the US troops from Syria under the pretext that the Islamic State (IS) organization or the socalled ‘DAESH’, has been defeated, shall open the door for a dangerous phase during which there will be a lot of bloodshed,” columnist and Kuwaiti former ambassador Ahmad Al-Dawas wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“Turkey, for instance, says it shall invade and destroy the Kurdish region that was established by the Kurds and declared its independence in Northern Syria or what the Kurds call ‘Rouge Afa’ (West Kurdistan).
“In this context, we cite the threats that have been issued by the Turkish officials to bury the armed Kurdish elements in their trenches when the time comes and in the absence of the America protection that was provided to the Kurds, particularly since we know the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, considers many Kurds terrorists who are striving to devastate his country’s internal front.
“We would like to point out here that there are Kurds living in Syria bordering Turkey and they at the moment are exposed to the danger of the Turkish cannon. Over the past few weeks Turkey has also threatened to invade Northern Syria.
“Such being the case, we expect as many as two million Kurds to flee that part of Syria if Turkey translates its threat into action. In this respect we cite how the Turkish invasion of the Kurdish area of Afrin at the beginning of 2018 resulted in as many as half million of Kurds reluctant to leave this area.
“Meanwhile, we would like to point out that when ‘DAESH’ captured the Kurdish Kubni city, America weaved a coalition with the Kurds and the American air force assisted the Kurdish combatants and helped them defeat DAESH.
“Given the above, it looks like America has found in the Kurds what it was seeking, the existence of a military force on the ground that is capable of supporting its air forces through the war against the DAESH – a terrorist organization that had stretched its tentacles in 2014 from Baghdad to the Mediterranean coast.
“As a matter of fact, the decision of Trump to withdraw his troops from Syria, shall send the message to the Kurds, that Amer- ican decision is a treacherous act against them. This happens while the Kurds were hoping America will not completely abandon them. The Kurds believed that many American political, military and media officials want to keep the US troops in Syria since the allies of the Kurds such as Britain and France want the same.
“If Turkey invades North Iraq, for instance, then an overwhelming turmoil will occur. Millions of people will flee that part of Iraq and the Arabs and Kurds will take up arms to fight each other. We say the above, because we realize that the environment is charged with chaos and has created the atmosphere that was responsible for the appearance of DAESH.
“In this connection, we say DAESH was always looking forward for this day because this has given them the opportunity to rekindle their hopes. The organization has already boosted its morals and potentials.
“The former US president George W. Bush Jr. had paid an exorbitant price when he said post the American troops invasion of Iraq in 2003 that the mission is over, but in fact the reality was the contrary, hence, we expect that Trump also will pay an exorbitant price if he believes that DAESH has been defeated.
“Not only that, Trump’s decision in question, shall send a message to the Kurds that shall negatively affect their morale and frustrate them because they were looking on the US as an ally. Moreover, the Trump decision shall expose the American soldiers in the region.
“In other words, the US withdrawal from Syria is a gift for the Russian President Vladimir Putin who had spared no efforts to subvert the US influence in the region and as such, he has expressed his satisfaction following Trump’s decision saying ‘Trump has taken the right decision’.”
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“It looks like the infection shifted to the Sudanese revolution, following the shaking of hands between the Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir and his counterpart the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad,” columnist Dr Nasser Khamees Al-Mutairi wrote for Annahar daily.
“In other words, immediately after the arrival of Al-Bashir in Khartoum from Damascus, the revolting crowds protested the rise in bread prices.
“However, the Sudanese intifada (uprising) stretched to many Sudanese cities to show to the entire world that their country which once was called the ‘Bread Basket of the World’ – the country of rivers and agriculture now see the people currently suffering from hunger and are struggling for a loaf of bread.
“Such being the case, we say the revolution of the hungry people in Sudan, is actually revolution against despotism, injustice and corruption which have swallowed their bread and everything that is produced by their country.
“It is needless to say the scene in Sudan is painful and the picture is bleak, because the Sudanese see the bakeries in their country are void of bread, the oil stations are without fuel and the banknotes have lost their purchasing power and the graduates are without jobs and working without pay.
“Although the country has a lot of rivers, they don’t meet the requirements of the agricultural land. In other words, there is a million square mile of the fertile lands, but these are not being cultivated.
“However, the above, represent some of the aspects of the Sudanese scene which has not been covered by the Arab media or maybe there is only a limited coverage for the Sudanese intifada.
“In other words, the Arab media is covering this intifada on a cautious caution for fear of the return of the ghost of the Arab Spring, which has tumbled many governments.
“Anyway, we believe the Syrian scenario will shift to Sudan where the regional and international powers will start intervening in the internal affairs of this country (the Sudan) to undermine the image of this revolution through the terrorist movements and groups such as DAESH to transform Sudan from a legitimacy to revolution where terrorist gangs shall justify the oppression of the Sudanese people to occupy that country and put it under international influence and drown the country is a series of wars, hunger and destruction that has stretched from Yemen to Iraq and Syria in addition to Libya and today to Sudan, but we actually don’t know when and where the circle will be completed.”
“In his last statement, Saleh Al-Fadhalah said ‘the original nationality of every Bedoun is definitely written on his identity card.’ I remember the Quranic verse saying ‘like she who untwisted her spun thread after it was strong’,” Hassan Ali Karam wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“This indicates Mr Al-Fadhalah and his team have been turning the Bedoun case left, right, up and down for over eight years, and I think those years were enough to close the file and hand the key over to concerned individuals. This would have ended the story of Bedoun, which hurts the hearts of concerned individuals and all citizens. Those who have the right would have obtained them, and others who do not have the right would have been told to look elsewhere for sources of livelihood with the best of wishes but Al-Fadhalah stood in front of the microphone and declared that Bedouns have their nationalities on their identities, as if he has finally discovered the causes of climate change by knowing the origins of Bedouns.
“The fact that head of the agency has declared that he succeeded in uncovering the identities of Bedouns, eight years after the establishment of the agency, indicates that eight lean years spent by the agency in searching, scrutinizing and verifying files were in vain and considered waste of time and efforts to prolong the suffering of this segment whose case has been turned upside down.”
“Many French people live outside Paris, for example, in the countryside, and depend on transportation to reach their work places. When the government decided to hike the price of petrol it affected the transportation to schools, hospitals, and merchants causing hardships to the French,” columnist, former Ambassador Ahmad Al-Dawas wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“The French government decided last November to impose fuel charges, such as on gasoline and diesel and the French capital erupted in protests by Yellow Vests who comprised ordinary citizens.
“The French chose Emmanuel Macron as their president in May 2017 because he promised to improve the living conditions and social status of the middle class people.
“Today they protest against him on the streets after being humiliated. The protests have spread across France and the protesters went on a rampage setting fire to cars, destroying restaurants and looting shops.
“The police tried to repel them while the protesters called on Macron to resign. Thousands of secondary school students and farmers joined the protesters, and 70 percent of the French supported the Yellow Jackets.
The angry protesters accused their representatives in Parliament for not putting their demands in front of the Macron government whose policies they feel are biased in favor of the wealthy and big corporations.
“The protests were not only against fuel charges, but the struggle of ordinary French workers, pensioners and unemployed, mostly from the countryside, to improve their living conditions against the arrogant class.
“Following the demonstrations the number of tourists to Paris, specifically to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, fell and sales in shops fell, at a time when sales pick up during Christmas time and New Year.
“The events in France moved to the streets in the Netherlands and Belgium and the protesters put forward similar demand.”
“More than 15 years ago, an advertisement was published in local newspapers to inform the public about the vacant regional director position in one of the United Nations organizations to represent Kuwait. The requirements were not difficult – a doctorate certificate and a few years experience,” columnist Dr Wael Al-Hassawi wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“After several days, the newspapers published the name of the nominee. Immediately, the announcement sparked public outrage given that the applicants for the position were not interviewed. Several applicants were called for interview and I was among them, but my response to the call was: ‘The game you are playing will not work with me.’ The result of the interview was published and the same person was nominated for the job. He was later appointed as head of an educational institution where he reported for work two months after the date of appointment as it took him time to move.
“I laughed from the bottom of my heart when I read the report published by the global economic forum which put Kuwait on top of the index on equal job opportunities and education between both genders. Throughout my life, I have come to realize that government jobs are mainly awarded based on politics – ‘This is our child.’ Official positions and promotions depend on connection, friendship and nepotism while academic certificates, experience and competence have no place in such jobs.”
“An Arab woman made a request from her country for a pigment injection, which a patient undergoing heart catheterization requires, as the injection is not available in her country while it can only be found in Kuwait,” Talal Al-Sa’eed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“The woman received the pigment shortly after the request was made. She was surprised at the massive response from her compatriots who were working in Kuwait’s Ministry of Health. Each of them expressed readiness to send the pigment to her. It is noteworthy the pigment was only available in public hospitals. In short, it was stolen and sent to her.
“Did that article create awareness among concerned officials to take note of what is happening? Absolutely, no. Stealing of medicine happens in all public hospitals, while you watch, dear trader. All male and female nurses go out of the pharmacies with no less than two bags of expensive medicines. A fight ensued yesterday between a pharmacy employee and a patient during the evening shift at Jahra Hospital when some patients complained about dispensing two bags of expensive heart medicines to a nurse. The official in charge responded, “Are you worried about public funds?” If a citizen does not care about public funds, who else will?”
“From time to time, decisions are neither well thought of nor calculated. The latest of such decision was issued by the Ministry of Education which suspended payment of rare specialization allowance at a time the country is suffering from lack of teachers. This led to efforts to attract competent individuals from sisterly Arab countries to cover the need for teachers and ensure continuation of the educational wheel,” columnist Abdurrahman AlAwwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.
“This sudden decision made us wonder: What prompts people to take the difficult path if what they will get in the future is similar to the easy path taken by others? Definitely, the answer is nothing.
“The Ministry of Education had earlier succeeded in encouraging students to pursue rare fields of specialization through the allocation of an allowance for this category. Therefore, many students were convinced to specialize in rare fields that distinguish them from those who opted for easy specializations.
“The abovementioned decision will put everything back to square one and discourage nationals from pursuing rare fields of specialization that will result in the lack of teachers specialized in such fields.”