‘Learn lessons from invasion’

‘Saddam regime its own enemy’

“THE anniversary of the Iraqi invasion and occupation of the State of Kuwait, evokes painful and difficult memories, but certainly it will be worthwhile to reflect upon it for lessons to be learned by us,” columnist and the Editor-in- Chief of

wrote for the daily. “As a matter of fact, the ordeal of the heathenish Iraqi invasion and occupation showed that we were duped by the regime that ruled the neighboring Iraq to such an extent we believed in its empty slogans and resounding speeches and stupid behavior that exhausted the country that was supposed to be one of the richest in the world.

“Not only that, the regime squandered the wealth of its country through wars and ill-prepared adventures and the Iraqis under this regime suffered from torture, deprivation and persecution for almost 30 years.

“The Kuwaitis also suffered at the hands of this brutal regime during the vicious invasion and occupation of the State of Kuwait for seven months, which virtually ended by the grace of Almighty Allah, steadfastness of our people, wisdom of our political leadership and the support of both the honest brothers and friends who liberated us and restored our freedom.

“Not just that, Almighty Allah, bestowed upon the Iraqis the grace by getting rid of the despotic regime, triumphing the righteous and defeating injustice and dumped the despot in the dunghill of history.

“Meanwhile, we would like to point out here that Kuwaitis – men and women – during the occupation ordeal set an example of love for their homeland, their commitment to their political leadership, their steadfastness and sacrifices for the sake of their homeland and by virtue of the Almighty Allah became victorious.

“We say the above on this day that coincides with the 29th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion and occupation of our beloved country. But in spite of our pain on the anniversary, we hope for and look forward to bright future relations between the Kuwaiti and the Iraqi peoples who are linked to each other with bonds of kinship, love and brotherhood and both countries are looking forwards for the luxury of peace.

“Such being the case, all of us should always recall the lessons to be learnt from the invasion and occupation and understand the real meaning of the freedom, dignity and pride and look forward confidently to a bright future for our children and our grandchildren and teach them that the good shall last forever while the devilish action has no place in the world and similarly injustice will not last for long but justice will prevail forever.

“In the meantime on this anniversary we have to remember our dear martyrs who indeed are more honorable than all of us, for they sacrificed their lives to protect their homeland and its dignity and freedom and to protect the justice, good deeds, and humanity and make Kuwait a safe harbor for every honest human being.

“Likewise, we should not forget to thank and pay gratitude to the honest sisterly and friendly states which supported the Kuwaiti right for self determination and exerted their utmost efforts to liberate our country. These attitudes are unforgettable indeed.

“In conclusion, we pray to Almighty Allah to protect the State of Kuwait and its people. We also pray to Almighty Allah to bestow His mercy upon its martyrs and bless our country with security, safety, prosperity and stability under the wise leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad and His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf AlAhmad, we pray to Almighty Allah to protect them.

“The State of Kuwait shall always remain a symbol for freedom, independence, justice and safety.”

Dr. Bu Khamseen

“Prior to the heathenish Iraqi invasion, our beloved country – the State of Kuwait – was the Country of the Arabs, and we remained Arabs in all respects,” columnist, general manager of Scope Satellite TV Channel and former wrote for

daily. “In other words, we were repeating national slogans and praising Arabism. Not just that, we were looking at the West with a resentful eye and saw them as enemies of the nation and imperialists who had usurped Arab territories, killed and displaced their peoples looked upon them ‘the foe of the Arab nation is our foe’ and eventually kept ourselves abreast with the logic ‘I am an Arab and my Arab brother is part of my flesh and blood’.

“Apart from the above, during the assembly each morning in school we, following the singing of the national anthem kept repeating ‘Long Live Kuwait, Long Live the Arab Nation’.

“But at dawn on Thursday, August 2, 1990, we discovered that the real danger did not come from foreign imperialism, rather it came from out next door neighbors and brothers although we were a country that always supported them.

“In other words, the problem did not rest only in those who committed this treachery against us, occupied and overran our country, but in those who supported the occupier those Arab countries, especially since we were under the impression that these countries will certainly support us.

“However, this happened although our right was obvious, but they insisted to support injustice against justice and organized demonstrations in their countries to support the occupying despot although they knew that we were the victims and our land had been usurped.

“That being the fact, following the invasion we appealed to the foreigners whom we looked upon as foes of Arabs and Arabism to help us liberate our country from the Arab occupying brother.

“On the morning of that Black Day, we realized that we had not signed a single defense pact with any great powers and this was attributed to the empty nationalistic slogans and principles towards which we were tilting, because we believed at that time that this type of pacts are a new form of imperialism, and the price in this connection, was high that exceeded our potential. Anyway, the above, is our past bitter experiment in brief.

“However, we say the above, on the occasion of what was said about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s decision to seek the help of US troops to support and train its armed forces and protect the security of the Gulf which is the legitimate right of the Kingdom because the region is surrounded by dangers on all sides and the tensions are rising as the sound of the wars of drum can be heard at a distance.

“Such being the case, the whole issue is subjected to the estimation of the leadership which is responsible for the security of the Kingdom far away from empty slogans. In other words, the Saudi leadership only can evaluate the situation as a veteran leader who is keen for the higher interests of his country and safety of his people, will not want to see his country facing the same scenario like Kuwait and the Kuwaitis who went to bed as a free people and woke up in the morning as captives of the occupier.

“In other words, the slogans will not protect the countries and the peoples, rather you will find those who shout those slogans are the first people to abandon you in the event of any devilish action – God forbid.

“Hence, we would like to tell the leaders of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to go ahead in your march and don’t pay any attention to people of empty slogans, because they are the real foes and we should be beware of them.”

“The meetings of the Council of Ministers seem different this time compared to their meetings every summer in the past. Almost all of the ministers were present at the meeting table, which is unusual in Kuwait, as many ministers travel to spend the summer outside the country,” wrote for

daily. “There is also a lot of talk in the political circles that the presence of ministers inside Kuwait is linked to the government’s attempt to rearrange its files and legislation before the next session. The political atmosphere is expected to be strong.

“However, even though this move seems to be a qualitative advance in the political work inside Kuwait, Kuwaiti citizens have the right to question what legislation the government aspires to pass. What is the next governmental program and on what aspects will the government focus on in the laws and legislation?

“Every government in the world wants to gain the confidence of the Parliament and thus the confidence of the people, to submit its political, economic and social program to the parliament. Based on these programs, voters press their representatives in parliament to accept or reject them or address some imbalances in their aspects and deal with some shortcomings.

“However, our governmental programs are unclear and unknown. All citizens know about them is some leaked information published by newspapers in the headlines during the summer but the government can easily deny these headlines because there is no official proof of them.

“At the same time, many of the news published concerning the next government projects are subject for distortions by some media organizations to serve their political and economic objectives, which has been going on for a long time.

“The government today communicates with newspapers, news channels and media influencers to report its weekly meetings and publish them in newspapers, but it forgot to communicate with the most important figure in the equation the people.

“This can only be done through the government’s announcement of its next program of laws and legislation, and presenting it to the public through neutral news media.

“This will open the door for citizens to make their observations and even receive studies that some citizens made about politics and economy without being government employees or benefitting from them.

“In conclusion, the continuation of the ministers in their work during the summer is a nice step, but this step is not enough if it is not linked with production and work as well as public disclosure about projects and laws that the government intends to pass, which seems very elusive in our country these days.”

“From the archive, I read what was published and circulated about the widespread statement of American Ambassador to Cairo Anne Patterson delivered to media outlets and broadcasted by an Israeli media website,” columnist wrote for daily.

“Patterson said that the return of Jews from all countries in the world to the Promised Land – from the Nile to the Euphrates – is imminent. She added she was so proud of the role she played to make the prophecy come true.

“She also announced that the Egyptians would not mind the return of the Jews. Furthermore, they would beg the Jews to come back to Egypt and save them from poverty and famine after declaring the bankruptcy of Egypt which was expected to occur soon.

“In her response to a question about the military war, she stressed that Israel had endured many provocations, attacks and threats and it would not be patient forever.

“She pointed out that in case Israel is forced to enter a military confrontation, it will not hesitate and it will be the last war, with the participation of the United States of America, Britain, NATO and all peace-loving countries to help owners regain their rights, stressing that the Jews will not allow a new Holocaust to be executed against them in the region since Arabs are violent and they tend to barbarism by nature. Patterson said the Arabs are envious of the Jews because the latter are more civilized, progressive and richer than them.

“As for her experience in Egypt, she said she was happy that she came to Egypt to complete what her older sister, Margaret Scobey, begun and that the names meant nothing, as long as they share the same goal and same sincerity.

“She revealed that she took the oath at the Wailing Wall to return to the Jews their right and revenge for their dispersion in various countries. She said she swore that the Jewish families will be back together to Egypt and Arab countries. She confirmed that she prepared the documents proving the ownership of the Jews of the Egyptian major projects which they founded before President Jamal Abdulnasser decided to expel the properties of the Jews and dismiss them from Egypt.

“She added the documents proved that the properties which belong to the Jews in Egypt make them capable of coming back as masters. Moreover, she stated that the Jews are the real owners of Egypt but the pharaohs forged history. She asserted the Jews are the real builders of the pyramids, but the Egyptians and the Arabs used to steal, just as they stole Suez Canal which was nationalized by Abdel Nasser.

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb