Activity 12, The Gulf War, Operation Desert Shield
Not everyone agreed with President Bush's assessments or reactions to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Below are some diverse news accounts that appeared in newspapers and news magazines from other countries. (The following quotations are adapted from the World Press Review, October 1990, p. 14; January 1991, p. 8; February 1991, p. 8; and March 1991, p. 14.)
1. "The American reaction [to the invasion of Kuwait] appears questionable on several accounts . . . The U.S., had it acted quickly, might have prevented the crisis. Washington knew, for example, that Iraq was mobilizing for war several months before the Invasion, yet it chose to ignore the information . . . In a "burden-sharing" drive, Washington has dunned Japan and other allies for more than $10 billion. In effect, we are being asked to subsidize America's policy failure in the Persian Gulf."
Source: Hisao Iwashima, Tokyo Shimbun, Tokyo, Japan.
2. "There is tragic irony in the fact that American troops are not only putting their lives on the line but are also taking additional and unnecessary risks to defend some of the most undemocratic and intolerant regimes in the world."
Source: Jerusalem Post, Israel.
3. "A war started without a strong justification could destroy the reorganization process underway in the Arab world and give Iraqi President Saddam Hussein an opportunity to appear as a victim of aggression."
Source: O Globo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
4. "How can the U.S. and its allies insist now on guarantees of 'future stability and security' in the Gulf if they allow the chronic instability and insecurity surrounding Israel to continue? How can Saddam's bomb be defused while the West Bank and Gaza tick away?"
Source: The Guardian, London, United Kingdom.
5. "The strategic objective of George Bush and his country is not to dominate the world in the Soviet style . . . The Americans . . . no longer govern the world, but they preside over the global order of the moment. They are responsible for obtaining, by negotiation and patience or, if necessary, by force, the obedience of the most turbulent countries."
Source: Bechir Ben Yahmed, Jeune Afrique, Paris, France.
6. "The sinister reality of our world is that the war [began] on August 2, when Saddam Hussein let his troops march into Kuwait. It is becoming clearer how horribly his soldiers acted there. Mass murder, torture, and rape are only a small part of the catastrophe suffered by the people of Kuwait."
Source: Wolfgang Günter Lerch, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt, Germany.
7. "Ever since Saddam Hussein began his autocratic rule over Iraq, the Arab masses have known him to be a . . . regional adventurer trying to fragment Arab unity and to strike at its symbols everywhere."
Source: Gamal Badawi, Al-Wafd, Cairo, Egypt.
8. "All of our dreams have been crushed under the feet of yet another dictator . . . History teems with calamities brought about by the absence of democracy. So perhaps recent events will be a concrete lesson."
Source: Rajab al-Banna, Al-Ahram, Cairo, Egypt.
9. "It is high time for Moslems to consider the connection between what is happening to Iraq today and how the U.S. and its Western allies had set out to contain the Islamic Republic [of Iran] in the early 1980's . . . The connection is obvious. Any leader who calls for confrontation against the arrogant powers based upon Islamic values, principles of independence and freedom, and the obligation to liberate all Moslem lands will be subjected to a collective Western assault."
Source: Kayhan, Teheran, Iran.
10. "A new era will begin after we have completely annihilated the entity of the Zionists. Iraq's capabilities will irrevocably end the hegemony of colonialism in the Arab nation."
Source: Al-Qadissiya, Baghdad, Iraq.
11. "America's interests override all other interests of humanity . . . U.S. interests in the Gulf could have only two major remote objectives: to maintain a permanent presence in the Gulf . . . [and to] break up the front of the Arabs and then weaken the power of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. In this way, the strength of the U.S. would be secured for some time to come, and the Palestinian issue would be directed and controlled from the Gulf."
Source: Kojo Yankah, People's Daily Graphic, Accra, Ghana.
12. "Saddam Hussein [has fast become] a hero in much of the Islamic world, and even many non-Moslems seem to think it wrong to [have taken] up arms against him. To these people, the Americans . . . are the villains."
Source: The Economist, London, United Kingdom.
13. "What we see is not a genuine coming together of world powers to act in concert, but rather an assertion of American leadership, which most of the world feels obliged to go along with."
Source: Financial Times, London, United Kingdom.
14. "Saddam's troops . . . have committed unparalleled brutality against the Kuwaitis. Despite international pleas to desist from dehumanizing the Kuwaitis, Saddam has shown no remorse. And the world has judged him as a criminal fit only to be exterminated."
Source: Riyadh Daily, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
15. "The theory that Americans are in the Gulf to defend their 'dirty' oil interests is gaining merit . . . Europeans, and Italians in particular, are uncomfortable with the growing deployment of U.S. troops."
Source: Corriere della Sera, Milan, Italy.
16. "Great Iraq [will] maintain a decisive advantage . . . Superiority in the crucial battle has been decided in favor of Iraq."
Source: Al-Thawra, Baghdad, Iraq.
17. "The U.S. is saving its strategic ally and principal oil donor--Saudi Arabia--from a possible attack. American policy combines both the principle of refusing to accept aggression and a strong regional (as well as global), practical interest. In dispatching troops to the region, Washington is thinking not so much about the principle of punishing aggression as about preserving and strengthening its influence in the Middle East."
Source: Stanislav Kondrashov, Izvestia, Moscow, Soviet Union.
Return to Activity12.
Go to the Contents page for International Conflict and the Media.
Go to the Bibliography.