Kuwait breaks ranks on Saddam

Telegraph ^ | 9/2/02

[Ranger]

Kuwait became the first Arab state yesterday to signal support for a US-led military coalition against Iraq, in marked contrast to the caution shown by other countries in the region.

The Kuwaiti foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed Sabah Salem al-Sabah, told The Telegraph: "While Saddam Hussein continues to keep Kuwaiti prisoners of war, and continues to televise threats against Kuwait, we consider the war against Iraq to have never ended."

The sheikh's comments serve as encouragement for a Washington administration struggling to convince the international community of the need for military action.

Saudi Arabia, which America used as a base during the 1991 Gulf War to drive Iraqi invaders from Kuwait, has so far refused to open its territory to American forces for a new war against Baghdad.

A Kuwaiti government official said: "If America asks for support Kuwait will give it. I expect the same response from all Gulf states. There may be the need publicly to be anti-war, but under-the-table deals are being struck."

Twelve years after the Iraqis invaded, Kuwait again looks like a prosperous Gulf emirate, but the trauma caused by the seven-month occupation remains, and with it the growing sense that the only way to achieve regional stability is through military action to remove the Saddam regime.

A spokesman for the deputy prime minister's office said: "The Kuwaiti people are tired of living under the constant threat of aggression from Iraq.

"Those people who say that sending weapons inspectors into Iraq may be a solution to the current crisis are not those who are living within reach of his missiles and his chemical weapons. How can we feel safe with Saddam Hussein next door?"

Dr Masaad Shlash, of the department of sociology at Kuwait University, a prisoner in Iraq after the invasion, said: "Look at Saddam's treatment of his own people. He's the closest thing the Middle East has to Hitler."

[truth_seeker]

We do, after all, have to leave Iraq in a stable condition and this will require much change in the ME. If we pull this off, we might live to see a world at peace.

With 1.2 billion muslims? Not likely.

[streetpreacher]

I was going to say a break in the iceberg, but yours is the better metaphor. I've been thinking all along the public is having to endure a waiting game while ducks are getting counted and deals struck. We do, after all, have to leave Iraq in a stable condition and this will require much change in the ME. If we pull this off, we might live to see a world at peace.

1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety! Then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail upon a woman with child. And they shall not escape.

Mat 10:34 Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword.

Luk 12:51 Do you suppose that I have come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division.

Of course, I'm all for invading Iraq and trying to build even a semblance of a democracy (of the right kind), but let's not start whistling Pollyanna. On this side of eternity, peace will only be at best shortlived. That's why realists understand Reagan's "Peace Through Strength", securing peace by preparing for war. World Peace is an illusion and will only be truly realized at Christ's Second Coming "when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord."

[elfman2]

Bingo! There's NO WAY to stop us with Kuwait as an access port and loading zone. All the domino's will now fall!

That just made my day!

[desertcry]

..... We liberated them..... That's not what I read in the history books. The Filipinos were already fighting the Spaniards before Comodore Dewey came to Manila. After We won the Spanish-American war, the Filipinos fought hard against us because we did not want to leave the Philippines, but wanted to colonize the Island. Our intent was not liberation but to colonize. I know it hurts, but we have to be honest. On the war against terrorism, I beleive the Filipinos are one of our most loyal allies, unlike the french, and the germans. They have demonstrated this by going after the bin laden supporters, in the Island, and have given us warnings about alqaeda attack plans prior to 9.11, but we choose not to take it seriously.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Maybe, just maybe, some Kuwaitis sat down and thought real hard about their recent history. Maybe it occurred to them that it is just a bit silly to support the guy that rolled tanks into your country, raped/tortured/murdered your cittizens, stole BILLIONS of dollars cash and assets, and set your oil wells on fire before retreating, while cursing the USA that ran out the invaders and sent you billions of dollars to rebuild. Just a thought....

[Howie]

I know a fellow that worked for awhile in Saudi Arabia as a chopper flight instructor. He said they were very unmechanical, stubborn, and some of them seemed to actually have a death wish when it came to flying.

[Ranger]

Yup. Lots of downside for Kuwait if Saddam is still in power and the UN causes the US to back off.

[ET(end tyranny)]

How about giving a section of Iraq to the Palestinians , on the condition that all Palestinians leave Israel.

[hchutch]

Kuwait's helping us in our hour of need, as we helped them in theirs. We owe them big for this.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Have you put a date and time down on the Iraqi invasion thread?

Yep, Columbus Day!

[Republic]

A little good news for a change.

Thanks ranger, for posting this tidbit...a welcome flash in the weird war debate going on in our nation!

[jedwardtremlett]

Dang. How long ago was that?

J

[KKing]

Good observation... It wasn't long ago that Kuwait came to the rescue of Abdul Aziz Saud when he got his butt kicked in Riyadh. The Al-Sabah family allowed Saud to lick his wounds here in Kuwait and rebuild his army. Once Saud reclaimed Riyadh... well you know the rest - Hello Saudi Arabia.

Saudi played a huge role with allowing US troops and bases during the Gulf War. Let's hope this helping manner continues.

[hchutch]

I am willing to bet that Kuwait will assist us, but the Saudis will sit this one out.

The Kuwaitis realize what happened to us, and they, thankfully, have still remembered that we risked a lot to liberate their country. They will aid us, and indeed, the bond between us will grow because of this...

Maybe we ought to allow the Kuwaits to own all of Iraq below the 36th parallel and all of Saudi Arabia.

[KKing]

I'm with you 100% on the Saudi Arabian thoughts - IMHO, The Sauds have become too lazy and out of touch with the common folk.

I can't see a regime change in Saudi Arabia soon, but I'm staying positive that this region changes for the better once the dust settles.

[Grampa Dave]

Sand Dunes will shift to accomodate the most powerful force in that area.

The non insane Arabs understand which country has the power to destroy other countries versus the Bravo Sierra of the Islamakazis.

Also, the rape and pillaging of Kuwait by the Iraqi Islamakazis has been played down by our left wing media. What the Iraqi Islamakazis did after they invaded Kuwait before several hundred thousand died on the highway of death was revolting even for Islamakazis.

This is the first real step of real payback. When this is over Kuwait will not be a rich little country. It will be a rich good sized country. They and Turkey will have control over vast areas of what is now Iraq.

[ffrancone]

Maybe there is a small pocket of honor left in that God forsaken region afterall

I think this has nothing to do with honor. No arab state will ally with us publically against Hussein until they think we are serious. None want to cheer us on and then have us wimp out. That Kuwait has chosen to do so means that they are convinced of W's seriousness. It also means that change in the middle east is coming soon.

[Jake0001]

I agree, there is no honor there (except maybe Turkey and Israel).

In fact the only ones that are truly believable are Iraq and Iran. The rest more or less say one thing (privately) to our state department, something else to their public and act in a completely different manner.

[Wonder Warthog]

"We "liberated" them during the Spanish-American war. Then to thank us, they ousted our military a little less than a century later."

Well, the SAW liberation was more an accidental benefit. More to the point is the later action against the Japanese in WWII.

[gcraig]

During the Desert Storm cruise we stopped in Dubai more than I cared to. The place wasn't very cool, but it sure beat the heck out of the steel beach.