On the occasion of the Kuwait Invasion I thought I would share a very informative article on the Kuwaiti Resistance. The article was published by the Middle East Quarterly back in 1995 but is actually taken from a book called “Days of Fear“. It’s very interesting to read although it’s a bit long. I actually had to send it to my Kindle so I could read it since I don’t generally read articles this long in a web browser.
The article contains intricate details on the resistance and lots of accounts of their heroic actions, many which I hadn’t heard of before. Here’s a snippet just to give you an idea of the kind of stories that the article contains:
On some occasions, Kuwaitis had no choice but to take severely wounded Resistance fighters to the hospitals, sometimes only steps ahead of the Iraqis. In one incident, a youth shot in the head was admitted as a traffic accident victim. The Iraqis knew that someone had been wounded and would end up in a hospital, so they searched the operating rooms just as he was about to undergo surgery. The patient was obviously in a bad way but the Kuwaiti doctor could not risk telling the cause of his wound. The patient’s x-rays would clearly show the bullet in his head, so the Kuwaiti doctors played a trick: One of them left the room, ostensibly to get the images that were just then being developed, but actually x-rayed his own head and showed the film to the Iraqi, who was satisfied by this ruse and left the hospital staff to get on with its work.
And here is another:
About ten days before the land war, in late February 1991, another gaffe outside Kuwait may have undone much of their good work. The Resistance informed the government-in-exile that it had sabotaged the Iraqi mining of the oilfields, and that most of the wells apart from the Wafra field and a few others were safe. An official apparentlyfoolishly broadcast news of this accomplishment. The Iraqis may have heard the broadcast or may have simply decided on their own that they had to test the circuits for real. In any case, they tried to blow up a number of wells at Rawdatain, in the north of Kuwait, as a test. They failed to explode. The Iraqis then checked the charges and discovered the sabotage. Over the next few days, Iraqi army engineers frantically reset the detonators, and then blew the wells. Overall, the operation was still a victory for the Resistance, for while about 720 wells were destroyed, the Iraqis did not have time to reset and blow the other 300.
As I said the article is pretty long but it’s thorough. Check it out [Here]
Photo: Bob Pearson/AFP/Getty Images
13 replies on “The Kuwaiti Resistance”
The Kuwaiti Resistance’s casualty rate exceeded that of the coalition military forces or the Western hostages
The Kuwaiti resistance was very good at guerrilla tactics
Really!? If you ask the Iraqis why they left Kuwait I guarantee you none of them will say it was because of the Kuwaiti Resistance.
The Kuwaiti Resistance’s casualty rate far exceeded that of the coalition military forces and Western hostages
SOURCE: https://www.meforum.org/238/the-kuwaiti-resistance
Didn’t you bother reading the article Mark posted?
The Iraqis were scared of the Resistance, Iraqi spy journals confirm that
Yes, I am sure Kuwait won’t be needing US help once again once ISIS comes knocking on their door. I’m sure the Kuwaiti resistance will be enough to fend them off like last time right?
Stop putting words in my mouth
I never once claimed that the Kuwaiti Resistance was capable of saving Kuwait from the Iraqis
But it’s an indisputable fact that the Iraqis were scared of the Kuwaiti Resistance (as evidenced by quotes by Iraqi military leaders)
The Kuwaiti resistance kept the Iraqi soldiers nervous and on their feet, and successfully conducted a few sporadic raids to kill and scare them… but were no match for the sheer numbers and firepower of the Iraqi army
The resistance was good at underground guerilla tactics
Wow. It is fascinating there are people like you who think the Kuwaitis actually played a major role in their own liberation. I guess the propaganda they spread minimizing the US’ role in liberating them has actually worked. No wonder there are jihadists coming out of Kuwait now. How soon we forget…
Hello, Amurrka.
I’m a Kuwaiti citizen with a father that endured the invasion for about 3 months before having to evacuate to Bahrain because my brother and sister being a year or so old at the time were becoming poisoned for some reason and no pills worked to heal their runny journeys to the bathroom.
Anyways, The Kuwaiti resistance did indeed NOT win against Iraqi soldiers and fend them off, but as the name states, they provided RESISTANCE. Resistance here does not necessarily mean winning over the enemy and bringing back the land, but only to provide resistance and protection towards other living homes. They only had rifles and a pickup truck to hold as many members of the Resistance in a certain group, meanwhile Iraqi’s had more than just a few cannons and tanks. these great men died in the name of Kuwait, and in the fear of losing what’s theirs and others.
I’m not gonna say that the US land, air and navy attacks were not very much contributing, it in fact lead Kuwait to freedom. The possible reason behind this aid will not be discussed, since this is not our discussion.
The Iraqi’s worked to neutralize military figures, government figures and so on by imprisoning, raiding and killing said figures and even the important governmental locations and buildings.
Kuwait had been aiding Iraq in its war with Iran by providing resources and so this invasion was a sign of treason and surprise, no one expected this.
ISIS attacks in Kuwait had been stopped and tracked down by Kuwait’s forces, if you have read any news from anytime about that. And so to conclude, no one in this post had ever said anything about the US being useless, and no propaganda suggests so, we believe it to be crucial. But, you also cannot ignore the fact that citizens living in Kuwait wanted liberation of their state and fought for it.
Thank you for understanding, if you do.
I remember the days when you wouldn’t blog about these sorts of ocassions/commerations. It’s good to see you’ve come around.
I always blog about the invasion, I’ve been doing it every year since I don’t remember when. Just type kuwait invasion or gulf war or something and you’ll see how far back my posts go 🙂
I remember the days when you used to say you weren’t a greeting card. Once again, it’s nice to see that you’ve conformed over the years.
I’m still not a greeting card and this post isn’t a greeting card.
Whatever you say.
Any idea if that book available locally?