In the lead-up to an all-but-certain war between the United States and her allies and the dictatorship of Iraq, Saddam Hussein is trying to increase the chances that as many of his neighbors as possible will not join in the fight on the side of America. One method Hussein has adopted vis-a-vis Kuwait is a public apology for his 1990 invasion, conquest, pillage and annexation of the small Gulf state.
The Kuwaiti press is less than forgiving of Iraq, especially as the Iraqi apology was couched in an accusation and warning that Kuwait not cooperate with the United States against the Hussein regime. For the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai al-Aam, ?after 12 years - an apology is worse than a wrongdoing.? The newspaper quotes Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Abderrahman al-Atiyyah as dismissing the apology as ?disappointing.? Atiyyah said, ?The speech contained nothing new, reiterated the justifications for invading Kuwait that we have become used to hearing, and did not conform to the usual concept of an apology.... [It was] out of step with the resolutions of the Arab summit in Beirut regarding the security, sovereignty and independence of the state of Kuwait.? Expressing the general suspicions of the Kuwaitis and others, Atiyyah was quoted as saying that the speech was just a reflection of the ?Iraqi regime?s desperate situation.? The GCC, al-Rai al-Aam reports, rejects the ?incitement contained in the speech and its encouragement of the recent terrorist actions (against US forces) in Kuwait.?
Kuwait?s leading daily, al-Siyassa, declared that ?Kuwait rejects Saddam?s apology as suspect, manipulative and inciting terror; parliamentarians and political and popular leaders condemn the Baghdad regime?s attempt to undermine national unity and stoke flames of sedition.? Ahmed Jarallah, the publisher and editor of al-Siyassa, wrote that Hussein?s claim that his 1990 invasion of Kuwait was an act of self-defense is a ?figment of his imagination? and full of ?his famed heresies....? Saddam?s ?professed apology,? the Kuwaiti editorial continues, was heavy with ?his false pride, empty arrogance and the false information he has often repeated since 1991.? According to al-Siyassa, Saddam Hussein is one of ?those maniacs who think the world is theirs to control, and that they will grab and rule it with their insanity.?
The Kuwaiti press is less than forgiving of Iraq, especially as the Iraqi apology was couched in an accusation and warning that Kuwait not cooperate with the United States against the Hussein regime. For the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai al-Aam, ?after 12 years - an apology is worse than a wrongdoing.? The newspaper quotes Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Abderrahman al-Atiyyah as dismissing the apology as ?disappointing.? Atiyyah said, ?The speech contained nothing new, reiterated the justifications for invading Kuwait that we have become used to hearing, and did not conform to the usual concept of an apology.... [It was] out of step with the resolutions of the Arab summit in Beirut regarding the security, sovereignty and independence of the state of Kuwait.? Expressing the general suspicions of the Kuwaitis and others, Atiyyah was quoted as saying that the speech was just a reflection of the ?Iraqi regime?s desperate situation.? The GCC, al-Rai al-Aam reports, rejects the ?incitement contained in the speech and its encouragement of the recent terrorist actions (against US forces) in Kuwait.?
Kuwait?s leading daily, al-Siyassa, declared that ?Kuwait rejects Saddam?s apology as suspect, manipulative and inciting terror; parliamentarians and political and popular leaders condemn the Baghdad regime?s attempt to undermine national unity and stoke flames of sedition.? Ahmed Jarallah, the publisher and editor of al-Siyassa, wrote that Hussein?s claim that his 1990 invasion of Kuwait was an act of self-defense is a ?figment of his imagination? and full of ?his famed heresies....? Saddam?s ?professed apology,? the Kuwaiti editorial continues, was heavy with ?his false pride, empty arrogance and the false information he has often repeated since 1991.? According to al-Siyassa, Saddam Hussein is one of ?those maniacs who think the world is theirs to control, and that they will grab and rule it with their insanity.?