Free Kuwait

Kuwait’s earlier history is awesome. Within the GCC, the “Dawlat al-Kuwayt” (Arabic for “state of Kuwait”) is the only country which has seen a military invasion and occupation since its independence. On the 2nd of August 1990, Saddam Hussein’s tank divisions reached the City of Kuwait and the ruling Al-Sabah family fled to the Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia. “Athaura fi Kuwait – revolution in Kuwait” headlined the then Iraqi Newspaper Babel, published by Saddam Hussain’s son Udai (the latter was later awarded the title “journalist of the century”). But the so-called revolution lasted for only nine months.

The nightmare was eventually ended by a 22-state-coalition under US command. The wounds of the war were present until the new millennium. Kuwait expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians residing in Kuwait, mostly businessmen and engineers together with their families who helped in building up Kuwait after World War II in retaliation for then-PLO-chief Yasser Arafat’s support for Baghdad.

Nevertheless Emir Al-Sabah has always been in the forefront of supporting the Palestinian cause to have a state of their own. Until today, Kuwait government bodies, enterprises and private persons donate millions of dollars every year to Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and in Gaza.

Nevertheless, both Kuwait and Iraq approached each other after Saddam’s regime was ousted in 2003. The carefully planned détente culminated on the 16th of July 2009 when Kuwait named its first ambassador to Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War. The move was regarded as a major step toward healing the two countries' painful past. It also boosted regional ties with Baghdad's post-war government.

On the other hand, the fact that the casus belli for the 2003-war was fabricated by the US and Britain caused the Kuwaitis to become more critical of their traditional allies. The alleged weapons of mass destructions did not exist. No evidence was found that there were links between Saddam Hussein and the terror network Al-Quaida.