Word: saad
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Officially, none of this is happening. "Most of the Palestinians helped Kuwaitis during the Iraqi occupation," says Prime Minister Saad. Yet Saad's failure to define collaboration has made it impossible to distinguish between true disloyalty to Kuwait and acts undertaken merely to survive. The elaborate money-distribution scheme that provided almost $200 million for bribes and food during the occupation served only Kuwaitis. "Why is someone who worked in order to live -- and only because the government wouldn't support him as it was supporting Kuwaitis -- a collaborator?" asks Sana Salah, a Palestinian computer programmer...
...Emir's debt-forgiveness decree was a stroke of political genius, a recent statement by Prime Minister Saad was stupefyingly foolish. "Saddam is still thinking and planning further operations aimed at destroying Kuwait," said Saad on June 19. "They may take the form of sabotage to destroy Kuwait from within...
...Saad's cry was meant to persuade George Bush to leave ground forces in Kuwait indefinitely. "We'll stay beyond the publicly announced withdrawal date of Sept. 1," says a State Department official, "and we may soon sign a protection agreement, but a long-term commitment of ground forces is not in the cards." The U.S. is not completely against the idea, explains a Western diplomat in Kuwait, "but Washington won't go along unless an Arab force is present as cover. Getting labeled as Kuwait's sole guarantor would only confirm the fears of those who think...
...Saad's statement had little impact in Washington, it has scared hell out of his constituents at home. A call to turn in weapons has gone unheeded despite the promise of a 15-year prison term for harboring arms. "Why should we turn in our guns?" asks a Kuwaiti merchant. "The government couldn't protect us the first time. If the Iraqis come again, we're better off fending for ourselves, especially since the Arab states can't agree on a common security policy...
...replacing lost inventory. The government's inexplicable failure to set a reasonable compensation policy for goods lost during the occupation has aided stagnation as well. Most businessmen are also waiting to see whether the Emir will trump his consumer-debt order by similarly forgiving commercial loans. "Now we have Saad's idiotic statement about Saddam," says the Gulf Bank's Sultan. "Where is business confidence to come from? Who from the outside will invest here if our leaders are trembling? And what interest rates will we have to pay when the government borrows in the international markets if Kuwait...