|
Kuwaitis Split Over Striking Iraq
 |
|
Report By Abdul-Rahman Saad, IOL Kuwait Correspondent
KUWAIT CITY, July 16 (IslamOnline) – The Kuwaiti street is split between those who reject the upcoming U.S. strikes against Iraq, despite wanting to get rid of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
As Kuwait remembers the 12th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion, a part of its population thinks a strike against Iraq is a necessity.
Dr. Abdul-Mohsen Al-Medaj, member of the Kuwaiti National Parliament, told IslamOnline Monday, July 15 that “Kuwait has never interfered in the internal affairs of any country, neighbor or other, out of the belief of the freedom and independence of world governments and their peoples in choosing their type of leadership and politics.”
He added that if the United States wishes to change the leadership in Iraq, this has to happen from within the country and the Iraqi people must make such important decisions for its future.
Al Medaj added that it is important that the Iraqi opposition gets their chance to play an important role in any future Iraqi change, and emphasized that at the same time changing the Iraqi regime is an internal matter that Kuwait has nothing to do with.
Meanwhile, Dr. Khaldoun Al Naqeeb, Political Science and Socials Studies Professor in Kuwait University said: “If it has been decided that the U.S. plays a role in changing the Iraqi regime this means that the regimes in many countries are prone to being changed as well and that there will be no way to control that.”
Dr. Al Naqeeb said that it is unfortunate that the Gulf countries in general and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia specifically, have not prepared themselves for any developments occurring due to the striking of Iraq or the change of its regime.
“The Gulf preparations in this regard is unclear, if it at all exists, and it hasn’t been announced. The public have not been told of any security or financial measures that have been taken,” he said.
He warned that any change in Iraq will have its effects on all Gulf countries in the region and especially Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Journalist, Mubarak Bin Shafi Al Hajer said: “It is not possible for any wise person to accept a strike on Iraq, during this critical phase of the nation’s history. Not because we are against the fall of the Iraqi regime, but because we know that a strike of the story will not go through the heart of this corrupt regime, before thousands of our innocent Iraqi brethren fall victim. It will destroy what was built in years in only a couple of months or days.”
“We will be the first to suffer from this strike because we are the nearest geographically and we will be held responsible as usual by our Arab brethren, responsible for Iraqi hard line policies,” he said.
Hajer said that he wished that the end of the Iraqi regime, and especially his leader, Saddam Hussein be at the hands of the Iraqi people who have been suffering from oppression and subjugation in a way the Arab people have never seen.
“But it seems that this will never happen and that the American strikes are a must and that we have to accept that even if it is against our desires or against our current benefits,” he said.
Another reporter, Nabeel Al Fadl, represents the opinion of a large part of the Kuwaiti population who support the U.S. strikes, whatever the consequences. He asks: “What is the harm of a strike against Iraq which will rid the Arab people and the region from the Iraqi regime?”
“They say they don’t want the Iraqi population to go through more misery and losses, and probably those who adopt this idealistic theory don’t know the agonies of the Iraqi people with their regime or they actually believe the colorful images which is being broadcast through Baghdad television or that which is drawn by the speeches of the Iraqi Baath Party,” he said.
Al Fadl added that the life of the Iraqi people under this regime is a major tragedy, which gets worse every day.
He added that the strikes will not include the area in which the Iraqi Kurds live in, because this is under International and American protection and it is easy to assume that the south of Iraq will not be touched because it is a military resistance base.
On a political level, Sheikh Mohammad , the Kuwaiti Foreign Affairs Minister said several times in media statements that reports which suggest that the U.S. have negotiated with Kuwait using its land to carry out the attacks against Iraq are false.
He added that attacking Iraq has nothing to do with Kuwait and that Kuwait has not been offered a plan to overthrown Saddam.
“The role of the U.S. forces in Kuwait is well known. It is to protect our land and our national sovereignty,” he said ensuring that Kuwait will not agree to any attacks on Iraq out of its land.
Arab League General Secretary Amr Mussa has commended the stances of those who rejected using Arab lands to launch attacks on Iraq. Speaking to the editors in chief of Jordanian local newspapers on July 14, Mussa said that the Kuwaiti stance which was announced by Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, the first deputy of the Prime Minister in which he rejected attacking Iraq through Kuwaiti land is a national stance which emphasized the brotherly ties between Arab brothers which reject any aggression on Iraq.
|
|
|
