‘Iran must end regional meddling’

‘Why Arab writers mum on events?’

“THE pen is actually is not less mighty than the weapon in terms of its effect,” columnist and former Kuwaiti ambassador Ahmad Al-Dawas wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“Following the assassination of Qasem Soleimani an Iranian Major General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from 1998 until his death in 2020, commander of its Quds Force, a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations the commander of the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Corps militias, some articles which are penned by Iranian writers for the US newspapers including ‘The Washington Post’ and ‘The New York Times’, suddenly appeared.

“We never heard about the names of these writers before and none of these writers had written an article for the Chinese newspaper ‘China Daily’ including the Iranian student writer studying in the Vienna University in Austria.

“All the writers are seemingly determined to defend the regime in Iran by writing in foreign newspapers and all of them are Americans of Iranian extraction.

“For his part, the US writer of Iranian origin, Rouhallah Fadhili, penned an article for the American ‘Foreign Policy’ magazine under the title ‘Killing of Soleimani has united the Iranians in an unprecedented manner’.

“Another writer Nejar Mortadhawi wrote another article for the same magazine and said ‘Trump had underestimated the emotions of the Iranians’, while yet another Iranian writer Daniel Hussein in an article for the British ‘Daily Mail’ said ‘Iran has threatened to hit Israel if America retaliates revengefully for the Iranian missiles strike on the US military bases in Iraq.

“For her part, the Iranian writer Donia Asfandiari on Jan 8, 2020, penned an article for ‘The New York Times’ on the same topic and the Iranian writer Kareem Sajedbour wrote an article for the US ‘Times’ magazine under the title ‘Assassination of Soleimani by America strengthens the Mullahs (clerics) of Iran.

“In light of the above, we wonder why we didn’t hear the Arab writers and intellectuals defending the Arab causes through foreign newspapers in order to gain the support of the global public opinion for our causes.

“Anyway, don’t tell me we have only one cause the Palestinian cause, rather we in the Arab region, have lots of issues. Take for example, China which is currently persecuting Muslims in Tibet, to such an extent they have been asked not to fast during the Holy Month of Ramadan and is even demanding that they should eat pork and drink alcohol.

“Not just that, China recently destroyed the cemeteries and mosques of Muslims and built camps to house persecuted Muslims, but I have never seen this tragedy being highlighted by Arab writers.

“Anyway, let us leave aside this topic and refer to an article that has been penned by the American writer Zit Frantsman for the Israeli “Jerusalem Post” concerning the shooting down of the Ukrainian jetliner after takeoff from an airport in Tehran unintentionally downed by an Iranian missile resulting in the death of 176 passengers and crew.

“The writer goes on to say as long as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is responsible for Air Defense System and launching missiles he said all Revolutionary Guard members were near the airport and questioned why there was no coordination between the Revolutionary Guard and the Control Tower. And why the airport authorities did not change the route or why the aircraft was not prevented from taking off and questioned what the Iranians were exactly doing.

“Given the above, the writer went on to say there were three gaps in the Iranian Air Defense System, and this shows that the Revolutionary Guard suffers from many problems including lack of coordination among its plans and telecommunication gap.

“Unquote, ‘we have actually said, we hope Iran will learn the lesson and comprehend the Danish-Swedish lesson and open a new page of relations with all states in the region and encourage the Gulf, European and the American investments to develop the Iranian touristic, agricultural and industrial sectors and create job opportunities for millions of Iranians and improve their standard of living.

“Apart from the above, this shall result in some European states competing in the field of tourism and help attract funds, but unfortunately, Iran has embraced the thought of the Middle Ages as well as the path of the military confrontations and this was evident through its intervention in the internal affairs of four Arab countries.

“This intervention has led to the death of many people and destruction of properties in addition to the deterioration of its internal front as a result of which the Iranians continue to be poor and long for better standard of living and to add insult to injury Iran has only succeeded in earning hatred from the international community.”

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Al-Dawas

“After the killing of the commander of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Corps affiliated to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian revenge against the US came in the form of ballistic missiles attack on US Ain Al-Assad military base in Al-Anbar province of Iraq and another military base in Irbil City in the Iraqi Kurdistan Province,” columnist and former director of the Culture Department at the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, Waleed Al-Rujaib wrote for Alrai daily.

“For its part, the media covered this development in unified and contradictory manner. The American media, for instance, said 15 missiles were launched by Iran at the two military bases, while the media affiliated to the Iraqi army said 22 missiles were fired and one of them landed 45 kilometers away from the targeted objective and said two missiles failed to explode.

“But the Iranian media said the missiles killed five Iraqi soldiers which of course has been denied by the Iraqi army that there was any casualty among its soldiers. The US official sources denied the missiles killed any US or any soldiers from the international coalition.

“The Iranian official sources said the Iranian attack resulted in the death of 80 American soldiers in addition to damage to several US Army helicopters.

“The Iranians who died in the stampede during the funeral ceremony of General Soleimani in the city of Karman were scores of people, but the Iranian retaliation to avenge the killing of Soleimani and the Iraqi deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Abu Mahdi Al-Mohandes did not cause any damage either to the Iranian troops or the US counterparts.

“However, anyone who is following up this strong Iranian/American tension will conclude that the Iranian retaliation which has been described by the

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as equal to the US operation that resulted in the assassination of Soleimani, has actually failed to rise to the level of fears that prevailed among the peoples of the region following the assassination of the Iranian commander.

“But this doesn’t mean the wars represent just token battles although the Iranian strike in question seems to have been carried out in agreement with the US, particularly since we know that this type of strikes have previously occurred many times to safe face of the regimes and the organizations.

“In other words, it is a semi media play aimed at achieving some other purposes and to tickle the emotions of the conflicting peoples. In this context, we what was reported by the US CNN in this connection saying the Pentagon was informed in advance about the imminent Iranian strike on the two military bases.”

“Today is the 14th death anniversary of His Highness the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad who passed away on Jan 15, 2006 after a march full of giving during which he, may God have mercy on him, developed Kuwait and raised its level in various fields,” columnist Abdulrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.

“We shall always remember HH the late Amir. We will not stop memorializing him annually. He was a good-hearted person who was close to all the people. “He was the father, teacher, guide and builder of the renaissance of Kuwait until it became a major edifice among nations.

“The late Amir exerted tremendous efforts for the advancement, prosperity and progress of the homeland despite the difficult circumstances that the country experienced.

“During his 28 years in power, Sheikh Jaber documented and established a close and spontaneous relationship between the ruler and his people by providing them with fatherly care while ensuring absolute equality between young men and women.”

“Within minutes and without any precursors, the war drums were beaten few days ago before the American forces assassinated the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Qassem Soleimani using a drone that shocked the Iranian leaders who did not expect Soleimani would be assassinated in this way so easily”, Zayed Al-Zaid wrote for Al-Nahar daily.

“Kuwait is a small country located between three major geographical and military “oceans”, in the eye of the storm and in the midst of the burning scene of events. It is also one of the most important countries in the region with American bases. It is in a very critical geographical location and is of importance for the countries fighting in the region.

“What is required in the midst of these successive and stormy regional events is to unite the ranks inside Kuwait and stop the ‘marginal riots’ that some people carry out to gain temporary public momentum, in exchange for exposing the country to danger and undermining its national unity and its social fabric. The first step to be taken is to stop the skeptics of certain groups inside Kuwait to jettison betrayal by discontinuing throwing charges unfairly and without evidence.

“We call on the MPs, members of the government, and political activists to stop their political wrangles and their “small marginal” battles. They should pay attention to the regional dangers, because if this regional battle crept up to us – God forbid – there would not be any parliament, newspapers, or political or cultural forums. And those who live on the brink of the national ranks and the agitations of society will not find a place for them to spread their intrigues and conspiracies, because we may simply lose the homeland as a result of our attention to the small battle at the expense of the last battle.

“The government today is required to meet with the MPs to explain the political conditions that the region is going through, and the developments that the government has reached through its diplomatic channels. The deputies in the National Assembly in turn should transfer the regional political information that the government obtained to their electoral constituencies. It is in this way the term “representing the people” can be achieved instead of acting on it with the battles against “department heads in ministries” as I prefer to call them.

“In conclusion, Kuwaiti people have proven their political awareness and national solidity, and their union and keenness to their interests.

“This is why I address politicians and those with electoral aspirations – Do not let the glory of the chair blind you against interests of the nation.

“I also address the ministers and government leaders - Do not let the desire of power make you lose sense of yourself and be dragged into battles for which the homeland is burned for your positions.

“I address the media - The homeland is more important than everything.

“As for the Kuwaiti people, there is no speech for them, because it is they who teach us about these events.”

“Everyone expected things to calm down between the National Assembly and the new government headed by His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled, but these expectations did not materialize. In fact, some members of the parliament launched an opposition towards the appointment of the Minister of Social Affairs Dr Ghadeer Al-Aseeri into the Cabinet”, Abdulmohsen Al-Husseini wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“This opposition was based on the statement made by the minister concerning Bahrain in 2011. I think her statement is just a political position. There are some among the members of the National Assembly who share the same position. I believe those who are opposed to the new minister gave the issue undue importance because of a member of the Bahraini parliament who always supported Saddam Hussein’s occupation of Kuwait and still continues to be its member, as her stance was considered as her right to the freedom of opinion.

“It is difficult to run matters in the parliament and the government with such charged atmosphere of incompatibility between the Parliament and the government. Also, I would like to remind our opposition representatives that the Kuwaiti society consists of several sectarian, tribal, and political groupings, so it is difficult to eliminate any group of society. Therefore, souls must work and work within a framework of whatever keeps us united and in consideration of the fact that we are all equal in rights.

“The ongoing bickering in the Parliament does not serve Kuwait and its people. We want to see the spirit of cooperation between the parliament and the government in order to develop a comprehensive program to eliminate corruption in various government institutions so that we can provide better services to the people of this country.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb