Soccer Dad

Israel and kuwait

Ocean Guy sees some hope that relations will thaw between Kuwait and Israel. I'm not going to weigh in on the chances of that happening. It's just that it recalls some interesting items over the years.

After Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, Michael Kramer of Time Magazine talked with Kuwaiti Finance Minister Ali al-Khalifa al-Sabah ("A view from exile", Time Magazine, 1/28/1991) here are a couple of excerpts:

Three hours later, at 1 a.m., Khalifa was sipping Scotch and chain-smoking Kent cigarettes when the BBC announced that a different population of innocent civilians had just been attacked by Saddam Hussein: Israel had been hit by Iraq's Scud missiles. "That bastard! " screamed Khalifa. "We are trying so hard to hit only military targets,and Saddam goes after civilians. He says he is fighting to liberate Palestine, and then he sends inaccurate missiles into Israel, where Arabs live close to Jews. I tell you, he is both insane and evil. He must die."

What Khalifa said next was even more surprising. "For a long time, I have not understood why the Israelis would hunt down Nazis more than 40 years after the fact. Well, I understand now--and this I swear: If Saddam survives and the Israelis later want to go after him, we will do everything we can to help them."

(Sipping Scotch? That's a good Muslim!)
And:

Even before Iraq's attack on Israel, Khalifa dismissed the conventional wisdom regarding the Middle East's postwar future. To those who assume that the U.S. will pressure Israel to sanction an international conference designed to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Khalifa says simply, "They have got it backwards. It is we and the Saudis and the Egyptians who owe Bush, not the other way around. He may want to move for a conference, but if he doesn't, we will not seek to force it. Few of us will ever again have any time for Yasser Arafat. We will not fund him as we have in the past, and eventually he will be a goner. Maybe then a more moderate Palestinian leadership will emerge, and progress will be possible. But I caution all those experts who pop on TV every few minutes: Don't hold your breath."

The Egyptians and Kuwaitis showed how seriously they viewed their obligation to the United States when it came to vote for UN General Assembly Resolution 46/86 that formally revoked UN GA resolution 3379 that declared Zionism is Racism, by being absent for the vote. I guess that's a step above of those who voted to keep 3379 intact but hardly what you'd want from a reliable ally.

So I guess (despite my earlier disclaimer) I'm a little skeptical about Kuwait's intentions here. Time will tell.

Posted by SoccerDad at October 9, 2005 5:10 AM