An apology -- of sorts
Iraq's 'apology' to Kuwait appears to have fallen on deaf ears, writes Sherine Bahaa
No sooner had the news spread that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was to deliver a speech addressing the Kuwaiti people than anticipation over what he would say became the talk of the entire oil-rich emirate.
Would the announcement deal with the matter of Kuwaiti POWs taken during the Gulf War or Kuwaiti property seized during the conflict?
For almost three hours, Kuwaitis speculated about the content of the speech. Their expectations began to deflate, though, when it was announced that the Iraqi minister of information would deliver the address. By the time the speech ended, their hopes had been completely dashed.
Although an apology has neared the top of Kuwait's list of demands of its neighbour since the invasion 12 years ago, the mea culpa, when it came, served only to pour salt in the country's wounds.
In his first ever apology to Kuwait for the 1990 invasion, the Iraqi president's words carried a fair measure of criticism for Kuwait's leaders, in effect holding them responsible for the seven- month occupation of their country.
Hussein managed to antagonise the Kuwaiti leadership from the outset of his remarks, having addressed them to the Kuwaiti people. Kuwaiti Information Minister Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahd Al-Sabah said, "Iraq's clear attempt to drive a wedge between the Kuwaiti people and their leadership, by directing the speech at them, ignored the unprecedented and firm unity between the people and government of Kuwait."
Non-governmental sources, too, were little moved by Hussein's message. Shamlan Eissa, political science professor at Kuwait University, told Al-Ahram Weekly, "How can he [Saddam Hussein] try to isolate our leadership when he himself did not find a single Kuwaiti willing to form an Iraqi-sponsored government after the invasion; he had to form an interim government from military officers."
According to Eissa, "the speech was a total disappointment to all Kuwaitis. Saddam used the same political rhetoric which was full of insincere nationalist slogans. We had hoped to hear a more positive, reasonable and moderate speech that contained a clear initiative to build confidence between the two countries."
By hailing Kuwaiti militants who had recently attacked US forces stationed in Kuwait, the Iraqi president seemed to be trying to incite people against the Western forces surrounding his country. In a similar vein, he called on Kuwaitis to join Iraqis in fighting what he termed the "infidel occupying armies" in the region.
The speech seems to have had the opposite effect of that intended, as Kuwaiti voices have now joined some Western ones in decrying the Iraqi leader's comments as a call for terrorism.
Hussein's address is, perhaps, best understood as a last ditch effort by a desperate leader. The Iraqi president knows quite well that Kuwait will be the jumping-off point when the US-led invasion of Iraq begins. The US administration's plan is not a secret anymore. There is little dispute that Turkey would be used as the main base for US ground troops, who would swoop into northern Iraq to protect the vast oil fields of Kurdistan and combine with allied forces pushing up from Kuwait.
More than 12,000 US troops are now training in Kuwait, but with the Iraqi border a mere 45 kilometres away across the open desert, making the transition from simulations to the real thing is unlikely to take much time. US generals in the Gulf have done little to dispel speculation that the computer-simulated exercises currently underway are anything other than a rehearsal for an invasion.
Kuwaitis appear to have rejected the Iraqi president's attempt to turn them against the US presence in their lands. "Saddam's call was totally unjustified. The US troops came as a result of his invasion of our land. If they had been here before the invasion, Saddam would not have dared to do what he did," said Eissa.
Islamist lawmakers, some of whom had previously criticised the presence of Western forces in their lands as encroaching on Kuwait's sovereignty, took a different line following the speech. Islamist parliamentarian Walid Tabtabi said in a statement that the presence of the US military in Kuwait was not "controversial", noting that the country has a defence pact with the US owing to the Iraqi invasion.
The build-up of troops in Kuwait is probably not the only development there causing Hussein consternation. Of late, Kuwait has appeared quite welcoming to Iraqi opposition figures. Jalal Talabani, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader, announced during a visit to Kuwait last week that officials there had agreed to send a delegation of "observers" to a 13-15 December conference in London, during which Iraqi opposition groups will try to close ranks. Ayatollah Mohamed Baqer Al-Hakim, leader of the Tehran-based Supreme Assembly for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the main Shi'ite Muslim opposition group, also visited Kuwait recently.
According to Eissa, participation by Kuwaitis at next week's conference is an "opportunity for us [Kuwaitis] to deal closely with the Iraqi opposition in an attempt to open up a new phase in the relations between the two countries after overthrowing Saddam."
