A small emirate nestled between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait is situated in a section of one of the driest, least-hospitable deserts on Earth. Its shore, however, includes Kuwait Bay, a deep harbour on the Persian Gulf. There, in the 18th century, Bedouin from the interior founded a trading post. The name Kuwait is derived from the Arabic diminutive of the Hindustani kūt (“fort”). Since the emirate’s ruling family, the Āl Ṣabāḥ, formally established a sheikhdom in 1756, the country’s fortunes have been linked to foreign commerce. In time and with accumulated wealth, the small fort grew to become Kuwait city, a modern metropolis mingling skyscrapers, apartment buildings, and mosques. Kuwait city has most of the country’s population, which makes Kuwait one of the world’s most-urbanized countries.
The tiny country, which was a British protectorate from 1899 until 1961, drew world attention in 1990 when Iraqi forces invaded and attempted to annex it. A United Nations coalition led by the United States drove Iraq’s army out of Kuwait within days of launching an offensive in February 1991, but the retreating invaders looted the country and set fire to most of its oil wells (seePersian Gulf War). Kuwait has largely recovered from the effects of the war and again has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Its generally conservative government continues to provide generous material benefits for Kuwaiti citizens, and, though conservative elements in its society resisted such reforms as women’s suffrage (women were not enfranchised until 2005), it has remained relatively stable. It has been called an “oasis” of peace and safety amid an otherwise turbulent region.1
Last year, Christians were persecuted more than ever before in the modern era — and this year is expected to be worse: "4,136 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons," according to Open Doors USA in its recently published World Watch List 2019 (WWL) of the top 50 nations where Christians are persecuted. "On average, that's 11 Christians killed every day for their faith." Additionally, "2,625 Christians ...
A request to investigate the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation on charges of “public corruption” was made in a letter by 64 House Republicans to the IRS, FBI and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charging the foundation is “lawless.” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen referred congressional charges of corrupt Clinton Foundation “pay-to-play” activities to his tax agency’s exempt operations office for investigation. Political and corporate favors follow ...
On Sept. 11, 2012, a group of local fighters, AK-47s in hand, burst through the fortified front gate of a US outpost in Benghazi, Libya. One very long night later, the diplomatic compound was engulfed in flames and a covert CIA base a mile away lay in ruins, partially reduced to rubble by mortar fire. Four Americans were dead, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Information Officer ...
Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton on January 5, 2009, in a letter to State Department Designated Agency Ethics Official James H. Thessin: “For the duration of my appointment as Secretary if I am confirmed, I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter involving specific parties in which The William J. Clinton Foundation (or the Clinton Global Initiative) is a party or represents a ...
Propaganda According to the book Unholy Babylon by Adel Darwish and Gregory Alexander (Gollancz Paperback 1991): The US before the first Gulf War gave Saddam to understand that it would not interfere in its quarrel with Kuwait. US Ambassador April Glaspie conveyed the message to Saddam that the US 'had no opinion' on Iraq's future intentions with regard to Kuwait. (Kuwait as a state separate from ...
A 15-year-old girl named “Nayirah” testified before the U.S. Congress that she had seen Iraqi soldiers pulling Kuwaiti babies from incubators, causing them to die. The testimony helped gain major public support for the 1991 Gulf War, but — despite protests that the dispute of this story was itself a conspiracy theory — the pleas were ignored and it was later discovered that the testimony actually ...
In the United States of America, it is almost beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse to address the question, why did Saddam Hussein invade Kuwait in 1990? Even to ask the question, one risks the appearance of supporting a repressive dictatorship, and to the extent that the question is entertained at all, the simplistic answer proffered by political leaders is that Saddam Hussein is an aggressive ...
In a daily press briefing on July 2, 2008, the following set of questions and answers took place between an unidentified reporter and Department of State Spokesman Sean McCormack [1]: QUESTION: Tomorrow marks the 20 years since the U.S. Navy warship Vincennes gunned down the IR655 civilian airliner, killing all 300 people on board, 71 of whom were children. And while the United States Government settled the incident ...
A popular uprising within Kuwait to reunify with Iraq erupted on March 10, 1939. The Kuwaiti Sheik, with British military support and "advisers," crushed the uprising, and killed or imprisoned its participants. King Ghazi of Iraq publicly demanded the release of the prisoners and warned the Sheik to end the repression of the Free Kuwaiti Movement. Ghazi ignored warnings by Britain to discontinue such public statements, ...
A small emirate nestled between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait is situated in a section of one of the driest, least-hospitable deserts on Earth. Its shore, however, includes Kuwait Bay, a deep harbour on the Persian Gulf. There, in the 18th century, Bedouin from the interior founded a trading post. The name Kuwait is derived from the Arabic diminutive of the Hindustani kūt (“fort”). Since the emirate’s ruling family, the Āl Ṣabāḥ, formally established a sheikhdom in 1756, the country’s fortunes have been linked to foreign commerce. In time and with accumulated wealth, the small fort grew to become Kuwait city, a modern metropolis mingling skyscrapers, apartment buildings, and mosques. Kuwait city has most of the country’s population, which makes Kuwait one of the world’s most-urbanized countries.
