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."

[Stultis]

And so it starts, and before it's over the Arabs will be falling all over each other to approve the "Great Satan"'s coalition. Arab support for Saddam may be a mile wide, but (excepting maybe Syria -- only because it's next on the list) it's an inch deep.

[Right To Life]

We've told the Kuwaitis that the party is on. That's the only reason why the Kuwaitis, normally so cautious, would come out like this.

Very likely. However, the War Against Iraq won't begin until December of this year.

[Right To Life]

Bribery...

[Right To Life]

...the more we act determined, the more friends we'll suddenly have.

That is true in a great many areas of life.

[GVnana]

Do I sense a crack in the "sand coalition"?

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.

[GVnana]

I'd pay good money to see what went on behind closed doors for this to happen.

I'm thinking there's a lot going on behind closed doors and in a pretty treacherous environment, too. Going to be interesting to watch the chips fall.

[Squantos]

Those surely come with air conditioning right ? And window tint ! Gotta have window tint !!

Stay Safe !!

[daviddennis]

Kuwait is probably the least wretched country in the Middle East.

Contrast Kuwait with Iraq, or even Saudi Arabia, and you get the picture.

D

[justshe]

***It's going to be on his timetable, though, not that of the newspapers or commentators. It certainly won't be with regard to the "nuke 'em all" crowd.***

BINGO! And thank God!

[bootless]

"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. {snip} He's the closest thing the Middle East has to Hitler."

This man gets it.

[Young Rhino]

I think Kuwait will increase in the size after the war with Iraq is over.

Give the oil fields to Israel so that OPEC gets a Jewish member, and the rest of Iraq to Kuwait and Jordan.

[BlackVeil]

I think that if Iraq were to break up (a distant possibility at the moment) it is Iran that would jump in and take a slice of the pie, in southern Iraq. They have historical links in the area, and it is very strategic for them.

[tomkat]

hiya, newbie

plonk

[greasepaint]

Is any other news source carrying this story?
g.

[MeekOneGOP]

Kuwait breaks ranks on Saddam

Excerpt:

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.

---

See article at #28 also folks!

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