Posted on 02/02/2003 5:25:27 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Kuwaitis express sorrow
U.S. troops preparing for war were concerned, 'hoping for the best'
02/02/2003
KUWAIT - Thousands of U.S. troops preparing for a possible war with Iraq got the news of the space shuttle Columbia's loss from televisions in mess halls and recreation centers.
"Obviously there was a lot of interest, and hoping for the best," said Army Col. Rick Thomas, chief of public affairs with the Coalition Forces Land Component Command at Camp Doha, Kuwait.
The loss also dominated discussions among Kuwaitis, who gather in evening socials to discuss the news of the day. Even the prospect of war with Iraq was overcome for an evening by thoughts of the loneliness of death in space.
Kuwaiti Air Force Maj. Gen. Mahmoud G. Razouki offered "condolences to the people and our brothers in the United States."
"It is easy to get another ship, but I think of the seven crew and their families, who cannot be replaced," Maj. Gen. Razouki said.
Evening socials among Kuwaiti men are known as diwanyas, and are held in sitting rooms of the homes of prominent community figures.
Saturday's diwanya at the home of Abdul Wahab Al-Haroun, chairman of the Kuwaiti National Assembly's finance committee, began just as news of the disaster started to circulate through the city.
"It's very sad, especially at a moment when we want to encourage the morale of the whole people of the United States, who may take action soon against Iraq," Mr. Al-Haroun said.
The men at the diwanya remembered the shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. They shook their heads in wonder trying to imagine the Columbia breaking up at 200,000 feet while traveling at 12,500 mph. They expressed concern about the people of Dallas-Fort Worth and across the debris fields of North and East Texas.
There were questions about whether a missile might be responsible. But Retired Maj. Gen. Saber Al-Suwaidan, the former commander of the Kuwaiti Air Force, dismissed the possibility: too high and too fast, he said.
"It's very unfortunate to lose the seven crew. That one of them was Israeli will probably lead some religious al-Qaeda types to say it was the will of God, but you need to look to engine failure, metal fatigue or some other technical reason," he said.
Abdulrahman Al-Haroun, a lawyer who is the brother of parliamentarian Abdul Wahab Al-Haroun, said the shuttle's loss was a tragedy beyond the nationality of the crew members.
"As human beings, we all feel sad for losing these people," he said. "The NASA program is to help human beings and the world, and this is a loss for all humanity."
E-mail jlanders@dallasnews.com
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