This is an interesting article that was released today in the Times Online. Basically Kuwait is seeking $1.2 billion in compensation from Iraq because during the Gulf War Saddam stole 10 planes and millions of dollars worth of parts. Iraq kept telling Kuwait they didn’t have any money but then went and ordered $6 billion worth of planes from Boeing. [Link]
Thanks Dymatize
Update: Below is a picture a reader recently took while in Iraq. Thats the current state of the Iraqi Airways.
Thanks Keith
51 replies on “Gulf War battle reignites”
War is the answer!
Some say we are the wrongdoers,,,we need to forgive those who stole from us, and allow them to steal again,
Some might say, that was under a previous regime. Should the people of Iraq pay for Saddam’s crimes?
Imposing reparations on the German people after World War I led indirectly to World War II.
Does Kuwait need 1.2 billion that much?
Just saying…
I think its our right to get back what was stolen from us
Mimz: those people always say KUWAIT and KUWAITIS are the wrongdoers because THEY ARE HATERS
LONG LIVE KUWAIT AND LONG LIVE ALSABAH ROYAL FAMILY AND ALL KUWAITI FAMILIES
ALLAH _ ALWATAN _ ALAMEER 😉
WTF MAN WE WANT OUR MONEY!
THEY BURNT OUR OIL! KILL OUR PEOPLE!
AND YES WE NEED 1.2 BILLION IF OIL IS RUNNING OUT IN LESS THAN 30 YRS!
I think Iraq should pay every fils they stole from us plus interest. Think of it as a company debt. If a company owes money to the bank and then the owner dies. Are his children who inheret the company forgiven the debt? No! The company still has to pay. Because the debt was not personal, it was in the name of the company.
What Saddam did to Kuwait was in the name of Iraq and Iraq must pay for what it’s ruler did. Plain and simple.
someone remind how much the Amir takes every year???
remind *me*
@ON You NEED 1.2 billion dollars? Why? So the government could drop your loans AGAIN so you can go spend the money you DO NOT OWN (but have borrowed, and cant repay) on strippers and liqueur in Amsterdam and London then buy a couple of fancy cars then go out in protests asking for the government to drop loans again?
@Big Moe
What’s wrong with the government dropping loans? Isn’t that one of the ebst things in this country? Correction: best thing in the world? 😛
I am waiting on that reminder too Randy….I think the matter of compensation needs to dropped. At least 1.2 Million Iraqis have perished since 9/11…Just because one is Iraqi does not mean they share the same sentiments as those in power. What Kuwait and Iraq should focus on is mending ties because you all are related believe it or not. Stop letting outside entities such as the US/EU play you against each other! You all look like fools. Don’t forget Saddam was a pupper for the U.S. until he started to grow some balls. Then the Desert Storm hits. And yes I believe Saddam was a loser too for the things that he did. But so are most leaders (Kuwait included)…Check out the treaties that Kuwait signed with the UK in 1899 although officially cancelled in 1961 they are still in effect. I say all this to note that maybe you should stop sleeping with the enemy and love your brother a little bit more.
I think Kuwait has the right to go after Iraq, even if it was a previous regime. This case is similar to how African Americans in the US want compensation from slave owners, even though they’re dead, the decedents of the slave owners have compensated the families of the slaves they’ve owned.
It doesn’t matter what the Kuwaiti government does with this money, they can burn it (like the Joker in the Dark Knight), its their right.
This is a sticky issue to tackle, but here’s my take in the hope that I don’t get slandered for it. Oh, and I’m Kuwaiti, so for those who want to accuse me of being some ‘ignorant’ foreigner – keep your anger to yourselves, we’re all entitled to a free opinion.
It’s obvious that Iraq did destroy Kuwait’s infrastructure in 1990, kill our people and ruined decades worth of development. If we demand our war reparations, I would expect for them to be returned due to simple fairness, but in the hopes that the money is spent on the country and not pocketed by kleptocrats who just want a piece of the pie.
About this endless loan-dropping business: what we need to understand is that our loans were wiped clean following the Invasion for a clear reason – the government was giving us the chance to start over following the ordeal Kuwait was put through. You’d think that as citizens, people would be thankful for this but instead, they turn around, take out loans again and then hound the doors of Parliament for years and demand them to be dropped. Are you serious? No other country in the world offers free services to its citizens like Kuwait; is gratitude a completely unknown/unheard of concept here?
It doesn’t matter how much the Amir makes per year. It doesn’t matter how badly some greedy citizens want their loans dropped. If we get this money back, we need to put it forward FOR the country. Period.
Good on Kuwait for taking this position. In my opinion, Kuwait should be even firmer in its demands; as the only position Iraq and Iraqis respect is strength.
@Big Moe DUDE NOBODY EVEN MENTIONED any DROPPING LOANS OR FANCY CARS !!
its our money !! id be saving it for comin generations who wont be having any oil!
where would they get their salaries to live?
would u tell em we gave ur SAVINGS money to iraq? who already burnt our county back then and killed your grandfather and UNCLE!!
GET SERIOUS!!
@^B:
how much he is making matters A LOT. If someone in Kuwait makes this much, then I say lets drop ALL the loans….is it fair for some and not others….oh yes, and they did bail out the big cats @ Gulf Bank and the Madioniat…
as for Iraq…I say let them give us share in their new and old companies and projects.. better than laying to us like that openly
@ Moe.I couldn’t have said it better.Scrapping citizens’ loans is unfair to those who do not have huge debt due who try to live beyond their means.People just want,want,want just like spoiled brats.It also creates a generation of lazy-asses.Didn’t you read the headlines in Al-Watan last week “Oil will run out in 30 years.” tik…tok
@ Randy:
What’s it to you how much His Highness the Amir “takes” every year? We don’t pay taxes in Kuwait, therefore it is really none of your business how much he takes/makes, so again what’s it to you since you are not paying for it from your own pocket? Also, in Kuwait, we as citizens are very thankful that the Al-Sabah family are our rulers, because if it is not for them, then we would be living in shit holes, like most of our neighbors. We have freedom of speech here, which is a thing we value, and don’t really care about how much the Royal family makes. Also, the Emir is the only Arab ruler who has a salary. The other ones don’t, and just take anything they want, as they see it belonging to them. In which other country do you see members of a royal family so down to earth? They visit us in weddings and funerals, and are very popular for maintaining that trust level with Kuwaitis.
So please F off. Also be aware that the Kuwaiti constitution states that: “His person is immune and inviolable.” I would think twice about saying any more, that’s if you want to be dragged by State Security for something really not worth it. You want to question are constitution now?
Also… Randy..? What are you Lebanese? Iranian? Indian? Syrian? Egyptian? That’s IF it’s your real name, and you’re using an alter to hide your real name, no Kuwaiti talks about their Emir in the way. He is a very respected man, and a father figure to every Kuwaiti, so again F off.
Like the Kuwaiti people will get a penny out of the money if they get it back?!!!!!
huh
and @All and @Big Moe when did the gov. dropped loans at first?!? because you said again?!!
drop all that humanitarian lovey dovey crap, They stole, and now we want compensation. Hell, the jews are still reeking in compensations from Germany because of the Holocaust.
Kuwait SHOULD get its money back!
I’ve a couple of family members because of that war,I won’t forgive them :@
Lost*. Yeah I’m mad :@!
Just to clarify one thing. The article is about the compensation for the damage and looting the Iraqis did in Kuwait. This is mandated by the UN and it is not negotiable. They must pay.
The “negotiable” part is the debt Iraq owes Kuwait. Saddam borrowed heavily from Kuwait to finance his war with Iran in the 1980s. That part is not on the table yet.
@Big Moe
for a Kuwaiti to spend his own money on bitches and liquor and fancy cars is better than an Iraqi to do so with the Kuwaiti’s money.
Guys, i think getting our rights back is a character builder and an important statement!
I’m not Kuwaiti so I really don’t have a say in this, but I would say let bygones be bygones. Terrible things happen during war and Iraq have enough to deal with right now. Maybe in a generation or two then yes the future government should fulfill their war obligations.
Not to open a can of worms but Kuwaiti refugees that came to Bahrain during the war left with the ACs and refrigerators from their temporary housing. I’m not trying to compare this with what the Iraqis did, but just food for thought.
Khalil Gilbran said “An eye for an eye, and the whole world would be blind.”
US$1.2bn is not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things. I have followed this case quite closely over the last 14 years and the Iraqi regime has resorted to bribery, lies, forging documents, in order to avoid this payment. They have tried to go through their ministry of finance to acquire planes rather than Iraqi Airways in order to avoid paying the Kuwaitis. I lived through the occupation and am of the view that a lot of the problems we face in Kuwait today, are either directly or indirectly a result of the Iraqi invasion. Paying us back is the least they can do. Their problems are not financial, they are civil, so I don’t buy the “they have enough on their plate” argument one bit.
Even though its was a previous regime, the people of any country are accountable for their leaders actions.
And yo_ghurt, we are not trying to take anyone’s eyes out here, we just want our “eyes” back.
You steal something, you return it. You break something, you replace it. These are universal rules independant of society/culture/situation. Nothing will replace the lives we lost fighting for our freedom. All we are asking for is compensation for assets that were stolen from us, not some vengeful financial penalty. The fact that it happened a long time ago is irrelevant. The fact that Iraqis can’t get their act together in aftermath of the fall of the Ba’ath regime is irrelevant. The fact that their former leader was the decisionmaker is irrelevant. At the end of the day, no people can be ruled against their will and they are collectively responsible for the actions of their country.
Lol, as you can see, I don’t have strong feelings about this issue 😛 But I think I speak for a lot of Kuwaitis.
well said Khaled
Its simple…. YOU COMMIT A CRIME BE PREPARED TO DO THE TIME. In this paticular case they stole and enjoyed themselves doing it so no matter how you wash it they are thieves and have to pay back. Cent for Cent!!!
Their foreign minister can plan travel to London on a shopping spree and yet they cry to pay back what is rightfully belonging to some one else. That is not only funny but absolutely UNFORGIVEABLE.
GUYS!!….some of your commeents are just hillarious but yes I do agree it is quite a topic of discussion..
My way of seeing it is very straight….yes, Kuwait does have a right to receive compensation for the sake of sheer fairness….BUT why expect to be paid back in full from a country still reeling from the effects of war and other massive internal issues…..theres so many pressing issues that the Iraqi Govt needs to deal with that their priorities in terms of paying back Kuwait would obviously take a back-seat (as someone mentioned above, does Kuwait really need the money now???ie. its not going bankrupt)
A very geniune as well as humanitarian solution would be…..Kuwait should be given the exclusive right to lead the redevelopment projects in Iraq….that ways u get the money back in the economy through profiting from a premium on various of these projects and at the same time benefit the future generations of Iraq….who will obviusly be greatful to their neigbours for helping out in times of need..
and come on….such a massive country….u can make 10 times the money they owe you….its nt a lost cause, just a little tit-for-tat business!!
@Dana:
Speak for yourself please and don’t say “to all Kuwaities”…
Ashkara muzdowaj ya bgtr. A bidoon has more loyalty than you. It’s a shame. Use your real name next time. God bless Kuwait and HH the Amir.
@ yo-ghurt
if 1.2 billion dollars were missing from Khalil Gibran…..he’d go ape-shit and say: WHERE’S MY MONEY BITCH?
With all due respect for Kuwaitis, if I was Iraq, I wouldn’t pay Kuwait a penny.
I’d be like : Imma spend your $6 billion on another fancy pansy anti-suicide bombing ad .Watcha gonna do lil Kuwait ha? ha? what? I cant see you , your too small , KU-WAIT!
jkn I love Kuwait, to hell with Iraq. Give Kuwait there money back !!
@Dana:
you are not ridding this Muzdawaj crap!! rest assured I only have one Jensia…. Kuwaiti. But I love the land more than some of the ppl running the show here……but unlike you, I a brain washed free
so if I used my first name you would be happy? Grow Up
Wonder if someone would be kind enough to snap some pictures of our stolen planes….
In regards to the payback, how much payback can you give to those that lost their fathers defending our country and rights….
Mark do me a favor, you have the book of the Kuwaiti destruction, some people may need to be reminded what happened during the invasion, why not freshen up their memories a little…
NOBU, thank you.
You framed the issue perfectly.
@Dana post 6:11pm – Hats of to you girl…. right on….
Stumbled upon your blog and while you a do a great job covering products/services etc in Kuwait, it is refreshing to see a post that isn’t ‘consumerism’ oriented 🙂
I just had to comment on what i found to be a somewhat simplistic stance regarding how locals view the nature of the first Gulf War and Saddam’s ‘invasion’ of Kuwait.
Some may be interested to know that there is a very informed and aware contingent in the west pertaining to the mechanism of this invasion.
Always ask yourselves ‘cui bono’- who benefits?
I can assure you that things are a lot more politically intricate than you have been led to believe and there is more to the story than your liberators merely sweeping in to save you from the evil Saddam.
Many who take the time to think critically and step outside the box we have been conditioned by our media to remain within will begin to connect the dots and see the bigger picture that has been hidden from you behind the veil.
Your liberators are not an innocent party in this saga. The more you understand US foreign policy and its history of manipulation of foreign governments and false flag terrorism etc. the more you will understand that the Gulf War was designed and instigated by your ‘friends’ to advance a global imperialistic agenda of geopolitical advantage and securing that coveted black gold.
There is only one country that benefits from these wars. This is as clear as night and day if only people would stop looking to the mainstream media to give them their news. The MSM tells you what the ‘powers that be’ want you to think.
Permanent bases in the gulf, oil, protection money, weapons sales etc etc….. cui bono? What Saddam took from you is nothing compared to what your ‘friends’ have and are taking from you all under the deceptive guise of rescuing and protecting you. Ask yourselves who gave Saddam the green light to begin with? Kuwait was assured protection and therefore remained defiant to Iraqi allegations of ‘economic warfare’ regarding production and prices, access to the Gulf, slant drilling etc.
Nothing in politics happens by accident. They knew in advance that Saddam was going to invade- it is widely understood today that it was part of their plan. Know your friends and know your enemies.
I am sure that there are a number of you that are ‘awake’ to these realities. if anyone is interested i would be happy to send you a very eye-opening article that explains it all.
Mark, congrats on putting together a very successful blog.
@ B_G_T_R – You’re clearly not worth my time. A real Kuwaiti doesn’t talk in the way that you do. You’re a disgrace.
You said: “But I love the land more than some of the ppl running the show here……but unlike you, I a brain washed free.”
I’m not brain washed. The only one who’s brain washed is you. “The ppl running this country” have been running it since the 1700’s, and only lost their power in 1990, which coincidently is the subject of this topic. We all saw how all the Kuwaiti’s welcomed them back, and refused to be ruled by Saddam. If you’re really Kuwaiti, you would know that Saddam and his troops failed to capture Kuwait in the long run, because none of the Kuwaiti’s legitimized them. Saddam thought that he was doing the Kuwaiti’s a favor, as Kuwait from 1986-1990 went through a very controversial political recession, and the parliament was closed during that period. Yes, every one who loves their country and their sovereign is brain washed. Just look at your self! No one is brain washed but yourself.
Regardless of American involvement however benevolent it might have or have not been is irrelevant. Iraq has always chosen to deal with Kuwait as an inferior little state which it can bully anyday. Even in their last recent elections members of the Iraqi govt accused Kuwait of supporting sides and interfering in Local Iraqi politics. To this day in EVERY GCC meeting Iraq is NEVER mentioned due to this pretext. Kuwait and other GCC countries are finally starting to take initiative and have organised a joint defensive force incase of any threay on GCC countries from either Iraq or Iran. Iraq should re-evaluate how to deal with Kuwait, as never again will Kuwaitis be silent against aggression. 3ash Al Amir wa 3ashat liKuwait 7ora ilal abad
What was the name of the movie producer who made that movie about what Verita vos Liberabit just talked about… yes from a step back point of view many would agree on that.
Check the Kuwait Airforce and see what they are using nowadays compared to what it used to use before.
My opinion is this: Yes, Kuwait should receive reparations from Iraq. This is common decency – you take something that does not belong to you, you must repay the owner. However, common decency also works the other way.
There are many good Iraqi families who are really struggling to get by on a day-to-day basis, but their government does have the money to pay Kuwait.
As we have already established, Kuwait does not ‘need’ this money, but does have the right to demand it. What better way for the royal family to show their wisdom and compassion for their close neighbours than by taking the money and using it to help re-build a life for Iraqi families.
This would be a gesture that would increase Kuwaits standing in the international community and would show the world that Kuwait truly leads this region in terms of fairness and humanity.
Alternatively, they could just give each Kuwaiti some money to spend in Avenues on crap they don’t need!
As someone else commented, this is a debt and therefore needs to be paid off. All around the world, people take ‘responsibility’ for their debt and that of their fathers…
Lastly, I’d like to point out that how much the Amir spends each year is not really relevant. My country also has a royal family and I see this as a good investment. Better than a presidential system.
Just my thoughts 🙂
exactly .. dana speak for ur self
mbayen ma3indich any background 3an politics so latrizeen wayhich to taktbeen comments besim all kuwaities
Do the crime, pay the fine. Regardless of whether Kuwait needs the money, they were robbed and deserve their dues. I’m sure the best thing to do is put it on a “payment plan” to soften the economic blow for Iraq – which is just now starting to build itself back up and as next-door-neighbors, I’m sure Kuwait doesn’t want to see them slip back into vulnerable place. Surely not mostly out of concern for Iraq but rather the continued well being of Kuwait – because let’s face it.. People can talk all the smack they want about the US being manipulative but politics has never been a charity case. Looking out for #1 is the bottom line for just about everyone.
Someone steals your money, the cops find him and bust him. Do you forgive the thief because his dad used to abuse him and he currently has family issues at home? or do you take make sure the cops get your money back?
I’d want my money back.
If I want to give to charity, I’d do it myself and not be forced into it. Do we have to remind people how much Kuwait’s loaned or donated to Iraq?
It does not matter how much the Amir makes or how much money the country has or makes. Kuwait is free to take that money and use it as they wish. They may burn it as Patrick said, or distribute it, or pay of some other country’s debt, or invest it, or renovate the current airport. It’s their money, their choice, their business.
Oh… and I’m not Kuwaiti.
@ Dana:
I love how concerned you are about what “real Kuwaitis” think. It seems just in this small forum enough people have pointed out that you do not speak for all of them!
Also, it’s really cute that you talk about all the “freedom of speech here, which is a thing we value, and don’t really care about how much the Royal family makes…” and then in the next paragraph go with “if you want to be dragged by State Security for something really not worth it. You want to question are constitution now?”
So, about that freedom of speech dear, is it freedom to be allowed to say what is allowed to be said? ‘Cause Kuwait ain’t the only country with THAT kind of freedom. And so what if the constitution says “His person is immune and inviolable”? Is it a part of the Qur’an, or is His Highness like the Pope? Ever occurred to you how haram it is to think that a human being is above reproach? Or how nonsensical?
Look, I’m glad you are proud of our country, and I’m glad you “love” HRH, but blind devotion only leads to trouble. That’s why we’re proud we have some free speech and a parliament.
Lastly, please PLEASE–while representing all Kuwaitis, try not to get into this bull*&%t about where someone is from. It just further shows your bigotry and your ignorance. I think Kuwaitis in general are making huge strides away from the whole “What are you Lebanese? Iranian? Indian?…” mentality, and we don’t need people like you to embarrass us in public forums. What if he is any one of those, or something else? Does it make him any less human? Any less credible?
The Emir is a very well respected man, and yes, many of us are very proud to have him rule over us, but we aren’t all fools and HRH doesn’t need us to fawn all over him all the time because he’s strong in his own right.