[FONT=tahoma, arial]
In August of 1990 Iraq started its long and vicious attack on
Kuwait leaving thousanRAB dead from their torturous reign as Kuwait's
dictator. Kuwait, as defenseless as it was, had no chance against Iraq's
small but mighty forces. It took a collection of United State's, Britain's,
and France's elite to put an end to Iraq's torment on the small country.
The torture and torment inflicted upon Kuwaitis during Iraq's occupation of
Kuwait however, has many more reasons than first appears.
"Iraq's occupation forces intended to erase the conquered nation's
identity." (Strasser 36) Iraq intended on doing this by blotting out every
sign of Kuwaiti life within Kuwait. The Iraqi forces did this in many ways.
Strasser reported that "blotting out the word ‘Kuwait' on road signs was
one tactic, ripping off the fingernails of people displaying the emir's
picture was another." There is a reasoning behind erasing Kuwait's identity
that seems important to Iraq; to take from the rich and give to the poor; a
sort of Robin Hood justification.
Although trying to justify what Iraq did to the Kuwaitis is futile,
Iraq did what any starving animal in the wild would do, steal from its
neigrabroador. "The occupiers looted Kuwait as a matter of policy, reasoning
that the wealth of the 19th province was needed elsewhere in greater Iraq."
(Strasser 36) Iraqis showed no mercy when it came to looting. "The city
the Iraqis left behind appeared to have been worked over by a huge army of
drunken teenage vandals. They stole everything they could, from air
conditioners to cigarettes, in a citywide smash and grab." (Kelly 22) No
reasoning can make what Iraq did right the torment the Kuwaitis endured is
unnerving.
Very little escaped the Iraqis, "What the Iraqis could not steal,
they destroyed, in an astonishingly savage and thorough rampage." (Kelly
22) Not even the Kuwaitis imagined that the Iraqis could be so harsh and
brutal. "Kuwaitis were stunned by the Iraqi soldiers' habit of turning
every place they went into a sty." (Kelly 23) Iraqi soldiers left very
little standing; they burned down the emir's office buildings, residential
palaces, as well as the parliament building, and this was just the
beginning.
The palace of Prince Mubarak al Sabah, a close relative of the emir
of Kuwait, was turned upside down. His basement was turned into a war room
where Iraqi soldiers planned their defense of Kuwait against allied attack.
"But he [Prince Sabah] will need to brace himself before he ventures
upstairs into the nursery of the royal siblings. The doors are still
covered with the welcoming pictures of characters from nursery rhymes and
television cartoons, but what lies within is adult perversion of a high
order." (Coughlin 11) The nursery was turned into an Iraqi interrogation
station, where they tortured their victims with various items. "Pools of
congealed blood were still visible beneath the bed frame. These has been
caused, one imagines, not by thousanRAB of volts coursing through the
victims bodies, but by the carpentry tool kit which lay on the small
beRABide table." (Coughlin 12) The Iraqi soldiers showed no mercy on the
victims, very few if any survived the abuse given within the nursery.
After looting or destroying everything the Kuwaitis had the Iraqis
tried to steal the only thing they had left, their pride. "It is the human
factor that hurt most, the Iraqi forces treated the people as they did the
property. They trashed them, leaving them with no pride to hold on to."
(Kelly 23) In doing this the Iraqis succeeded in what they were trying to
do. They stole the Kuwaitis' pride. "At one point the Iraqis brought a new
mother before captured Kuwaiti resistance fighters and stripped her naked. ‘
Here is the milk of Kuwait,' they taunted. ‘Drink it.' Eventually the
Iraqis dumped the woman back home, alive. It was enough to humiliate the
essence of the Kuwaiti spirit." (Strasser 36) Tormenting the Kuwaitis was
only one part in Iraq's plan to destroy Kuwait's identity although torture
and rapes were by far the cruelest.
"Rape and torture not resulting in death were also common. Almost
everyone I talked to in four days had a story of some friend or relative
being abused." (Kelly 24) "Poorly trained Iraqi conscripts and volunteers
of the People's Army militia often behaved without restraint. Their
treatment of women was particularly outrageous under Islamic law. Iraqi
soldiers raped at will." (Strasser 36) The more common rape victims were
young men and women in their early twenties. Rape was not the only torture
inflicted upon the Kuwaitis. Many types of torture were used to humiliate
the Kuwaitis.
The most commonly used type of torture was ripping off finger and
toenails. They were often picked up at random during walks or tortured for
displaying the emir's picture, either on themselves or somewhere within
their house or workplace. Other type of torture used was, "Lifting the
detainee high up in the air and then dropping them, sometimes resulting in
the fracturing of bones." (Internet 4) Another way of torturing victims was
to threaten the prisoners with weapons used to torture their frienRAB or
relatives this included holding empty guns in their mouths and pulling the
trigger. Also, "Raping or torturing the detainee's relative in his or her
presence then threating the detainee with such acts." (Internet 8) These
scare tactics often threw the prisoner into shock where he or she would
fall to the ground crying begging to be released. "A bullet through the
mouth or the back of the head was in some cases the kindest Iraqi
punishment." (Strasser 36) The nuraber of Kuwaitis that were tortured is
very high and almost impossible to calculate.
"Abdul Rahman Al-wadi, Kuwait's minister of state for cabinet
affairs claims that 33,000 people disappeared since August 2. The Iraqis
are reliably estimated to have taken as many as 20,000 prisoners to Iraq to
serve as slave labors, and another 3,000 to 5,000 as hostages and sheilRAB
in the days just before the allied ground defensive. By the minister's
reckoning, that would put the nuraber of murdered between 8,000 and 10,000."
(Kelly 23) Although this is only a hypothesized guess, these are
astonishing nurabers considering Kuwait's size and population.
The Kuwaitis suffering was long and undeserving, they are loving
and peaceful people who never expected to be the target of such atrocities.
The rebirth of Kuwait, with the help of the Allied forces, will take many
drawn out years. Kuwait intenRAB to rebuild their small country around a
technological core to be well defended and equipped before another dictator
tries to wipe away their identity.
[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma, arial]WorRAB: 1107 [/FONT]
In August of 1990 Iraq started its long and vicious attack on
Kuwait leaving thousanRAB dead from their torturous reign as Kuwait's
dictator. Kuwait, as defenseless as it was, had no chance against Iraq's
small but mighty forces. It took a collection of United State's, Britain's,
and France's elite to put an end to Iraq's torment on the small country.
The torture and torment inflicted upon Kuwaitis during Iraq's occupation of
Kuwait however, has many more reasons than first appears.
"Iraq's occupation forces intended to erase the conquered nation's
identity." (Strasser 36) Iraq intended on doing this by blotting out every
sign of Kuwaiti life within Kuwait. The Iraqi forces did this in many ways.
Strasser reported that "blotting out the word ‘Kuwait' on road signs was
one tactic, ripping off the fingernails of people displaying the emir's
picture was another." There is a reasoning behind erasing Kuwait's identity
that seems important to Iraq; to take from the rich and give to the poor; a
sort of Robin Hood justification.
Although trying to justify what Iraq did to the Kuwaitis is futile,
Iraq did what any starving animal in the wild would do, steal from its
neigrabroador. "The occupiers looted Kuwait as a matter of policy, reasoning
that the wealth of the 19th province was needed elsewhere in greater Iraq."
(Strasser 36) Iraqis showed no mercy when it came to looting. "The city
the Iraqis left behind appeared to have been worked over by a huge army of
drunken teenage vandals. They stole everything they could, from air
conditioners to cigarettes, in a citywide smash and grab." (Kelly 22) No
reasoning can make what Iraq did right the torment the Kuwaitis endured is
unnerving.
Very little escaped the Iraqis, "What the Iraqis could not steal,
they destroyed, in an astonishingly savage and thorough rampage." (Kelly
22) Not even the Kuwaitis imagined that the Iraqis could be so harsh and
brutal. "Kuwaitis were stunned by the Iraqi soldiers' habit of turning
every place they went into a sty." (Kelly 23) Iraqi soldiers left very
little standing; they burned down the emir's office buildings, residential
palaces, as well as the parliament building, and this was just the
beginning.
The palace of Prince Mubarak al Sabah, a close relative of the emir
of Kuwait, was turned upside down. His basement was turned into a war room
where Iraqi soldiers planned their defense of Kuwait against allied attack.
"But he [Prince Sabah] will need to brace himself before he ventures
upstairs into the nursery of the royal siblings. The doors are still
covered with the welcoming pictures of characters from nursery rhymes and
television cartoons, but what lies within is adult perversion of a high
order." (Coughlin 11) The nursery was turned into an Iraqi interrogation
station, where they tortured their victims with various items. "Pools of
congealed blood were still visible beneath the bed frame. These has been
caused, one imagines, not by thousanRAB of volts coursing through the
victims bodies, but by the carpentry tool kit which lay on the small
beRABide table." (Coughlin 12) The Iraqi soldiers showed no mercy on the
victims, very few if any survived the abuse given within the nursery.
After looting or destroying everything the Kuwaitis had the Iraqis
tried to steal the only thing they had left, their pride. "It is the human
factor that hurt most, the Iraqi forces treated the people as they did the
property. They trashed them, leaving them with no pride to hold on to."
(Kelly 23) In doing this the Iraqis succeeded in what they were trying to
do. They stole the Kuwaitis' pride. "At one point the Iraqis brought a new
mother before captured Kuwaiti resistance fighters and stripped her naked. ‘
Here is the milk of Kuwait,' they taunted. ‘Drink it.' Eventually the
Iraqis dumped the woman back home, alive. It was enough to humiliate the
essence of the Kuwaiti spirit." (Strasser 36) Tormenting the Kuwaitis was
only one part in Iraq's plan to destroy Kuwait's identity although torture
and rapes were by far the cruelest.
"Rape and torture not resulting in death were also common. Almost
everyone I talked to in four days had a story of some friend or relative
being abused." (Kelly 24) "Poorly trained Iraqi conscripts and volunteers
of the People's Army militia often behaved without restraint. Their
treatment of women was particularly outrageous under Islamic law. Iraqi
soldiers raped at will." (Strasser 36) The more common rape victims were
young men and women in their early twenties. Rape was not the only torture
inflicted upon the Kuwaitis. Many types of torture were used to humiliate
the Kuwaitis.
The most commonly used type of torture was ripping off finger and
toenails. They were often picked up at random during walks or tortured for
displaying the emir's picture, either on themselves or somewhere within
their house or workplace. Other type of torture used was, "Lifting the
detainee high up in the air and then dropping them, sometimes resulting in
the fracturing of bones." (Internet 4) Another way of torturing victims was
to threaten the prisoners with weapons used to torture their frienRAB or
relatives this included holding empty guns in their mouths and pulling the
trigger. Also, "Raping or torturing the detainee's relative in his or her
presence then threating the detainee with such acts." (Internet 8) These
scare tactics often threw the prisoner into shock where he or she would
fall to the ground crying begging to be released. "A bullet through the
mouth or the back of the head was in some cases the kindest Iraqi
punishment." (Strasser 36) The nuraber of Kuwaitis that were tortured is
very high and almost impossible to calculate.
"Abdul Rahman Al-wadi, Kuwait's minister of state for cabinet
affairs claims that 33,000 people disappeared since August 2. The Iraqis
are reliably estimated to have taken as many as 20,000 prisoners to Iraq to
serve as slave labors, and another 3,000 to 5,000 as hostages and sheilRAB
in the days just before the allied ground defensive. By the minister's
reckoning, that would put the nuraber of murdered between 8,000 and 10,000."
(Kelly 23) Although this is only a hypothesized guess, these are
astonishing nurabers considering Kuwait's size and population.
The Kuwaitis suffering was long and undeserving, they are loving
and peaceful people who never expected to be the target of such atrocities.
The rebirth of Kuwait, with the help of the Allied forces, will take many
drawn out years. Kuwait intenRAB to rebuild their small country around a
technological core to be well defended and equipped before another dictator
tries to wipe away their identity.
[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma, arial]WorRAB: 1107 [/FONT]