Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Invasion of Kuwait

The Invasion of Kuwait, also known as the Iraq–Kuwait War, was a major conflict between Ba'athist Iraq and the Emirate of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month-long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, and subsequently led to direct military intervention by US-led forces in the Gulf War and the setting alight by Iraq of 600 Kuwaiti oil wells.
In 1990 Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing Iraqi petroleum through slant drilling, although some Iraqi sources indicated Saddam Hussein's decision to attack Kuwait was made a few months before the actual invasion. ome feel there were several reasons for the Iraqi move, including Iraq's inability to pay more than US$14 billion that had been borrowed to finance the Iran–Iraq war, and Kuwaiti overproduction of petroleum which kept revenues down for Iraq. The invasion started on 2 August 1990, and within two days of intense combat, most of the Kuwait Armed Forces were either overrun by the Iraqi Republican Guard or fell back to neighboring Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The Emirate of Kuwait was annexed, and Saddam Hussein announced a few days later that it was the 19th province of Iraq.
Alleged economic warfare and slant drilling
In 1988 Iraq's Oil Minister, Issam al-Chalabi, stressed a further reduction in the crude oil production quota of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members so as to end the 1980s oil glut. Chalabi argued that higher oil prices would help Iraq increase its revenues and pay back its US$60 billion debt. However, given its large downstream petroleum industry, Kuwait was less concerned about the prices of crude oil and in 1989, Kuwait requested OPEC to increase the country's total oil production ceiling by 50% to 1.35 million bpd. Throughout much of the 1980s, Kuwait's oil production was considerably above its mandatory OPEC quota and this had prevented a further increase in crude oil prices. A lack of consensus among OPEC members undermined Iraq's efforts to end the oil glut and consequently prevented the recovery of its war-crippled economy. According to former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, "every US$1 drop in the price of a barrel of oil caused a US$1 billion drop in Iraq's annual revenues triggering an acute financial crisis in Baghdad". It was estimated that between 1985 and 1989, Iraq lost US$14 billion a year due to Kuwait's oil price strategy. Kuwait's refusal to decrease its oil production was viewed by Iraq as an act of aggression against it.
The increasingly tense relations between Iraq and Kuwait were further aggravated when Iraq alleged that Kuwait was slant-drilling across the international border into Iraq's Rumaila field. The dispute over Rumaila field started in 1960 when an Arab League declaration marked the Iraq–Kuwait border 2 miles north of the southernmost tip of the Rumaila field. During the Iran–Iraq War, Iraqi oil drilling operations in Rumaila declined while Kuwait's operations increased. In 1989, Iraq accused Kuwait of using "advanced drilling techniques" to exploit oil from its share of the Rumaila field. Iraq estimated that US$2.4 billion worth of Iraqi oil was "stolen" by Kuwait and demanded compensation. Kuwait dismissed the accusations as a false Iraqi ploy to justify military action against it. Several foreign firms working in the Rumaila field also dismissed Iraq's slant-drilling claims as a "smokescreen to disguise Iraq's more ambitious intentions".
On 25 July 1990, only a few days before the Iraqi invasion, OPEC officials said that Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates had agreed to a proposal to limit daily oil output to 1.5 million barrels, thus potentially settling differences over oil policy between Kuwait and Iraq. At the time of the settlement, more than 100,000 Iraqi troops were deployed along the Iraq–Kuwait border, and American officials expressed little indication of decline in tensions despite the OPEC settlement.
Iraqi hegemonic claims
Many westerners believed that Iraq's invasion of Kuwait was largely motivated by its desire to take control over the latter's vast oil reserves. The Iraqi government justified its invasion by claiming that Kuwait was a natural part of Iraq carved off as a result of British imperialism. After signing the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, the United Kingdom split Kuwait from the Ottoman territories into a separate sheikhdom. The Iraqi government also argued that the Kuwaiti Emir was a highly unpopular figure among the Kuwaiti populace. By overthrowing the Emir, Iraq claimed that it granted Kuwaitis greater economic and political freedom.
Kuwait had been loosely under the authority of the Ottoman vilâyet of Basra, and although its ruling dynasty, the Al Sabah family, had concluded a protectorate agreement in 1899 that assigned responsibility for its foreign affairs to Britain, it did not make any attempt to secede from the Ottoman Empire. For this reason, its borders with the rest of Basra province were never clearly defined or mutually agreed.
Invasion
On 2 August 1990 at 2:00 am, local time, Iraq launched an invasion of Kuwait with four elite Iraqi Republican Guard divisions (1st Hammurabi Armoured Division, 2nd al-Medinah al-Munawera Armoured Division, 3rd Tawakalna ala-Allah Mechanized Infantry Division and 4th Nebuchadnezzar Motorized Infantry Division) and Iraqi Army special forces units equivalent to a full division. The main thrust was conducted by the commandos deployed by helicopters and boats to attack Kuwait City (see Battle of Dasman Palace), while the other divisions seized the airports and two airbases.
In support of these units, the Iraqi Army deployed a squadron of Mil Mi-25 helicopter gunships, several units of Mi-8 and Mi-17 transport helicopters, as well as a squadron of Bell 412 helicopters. The foremost mission of the helicopter units was to transport and support Iraqi commandos into Kuwait City, and subsequently to support the advance of ground troops. The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) had at least two squadrons of Sukhoi Su-22, one of Su-25, one of Mirage F1 and two of MiG-23 fighter-bombers. The main task of the IQAF was to establish air superiority through limited air strikes against two main air bases of Kuwaiti Air Force, whose aircraft consisted mainly of Mirage F1s and Douglas (T)A-4KU Skyhawks. Meanwhile, certain targets in the capital of Kuwait City were bombed by Iraqi aircraft.
Despite months of Iraqi sabre-rattling, Kuwait did not have its forces on alert and was caught unaware. The first indication of the Iraqi ground advance was from a radar-equipped aerostat that detected an Iraqi armour column moving south. Kuwaiti air, ground, and naval forces resisted, but were vastly outnumbered. In central Kuwait, the 35th Armoured Brigade deployed approximately a battalion of Chieftain tanks, BMPs, and an artillery battery against the Iraqis and fought delaying actions near Al Jahra (see Battle of the Bridges), west of Kuwait City. In the south, the 15th Armoured Brigade moved immediately to evacuate its forces to Saudi Arabia. Of the small Kuwaiti Navy, two missile boats were able to evade capture or destruction.
Kuwait Air Force aircraft were scrambled, but approximately 20% were lost or captured. An air battle with the Iraqi helicopter airborne forces was fought over Kuwait City, inflicting heavy losses on the Iraqi elite troops, and a few combat sorties were flown against Iraqi ground forces. The remaining 80% were then evacuated to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, some aircraft even taking off from the highways adjacent to the bases as the runways were overrun. While these aircraft were not used in support of the subsequent Gulf War, the "Free Kuwait Air Force" assisted Saudi Arabia in patrolling the southern border with Yemen, which was considered a threat by the Saudis because of Yemen–Iraq ties.
Iraqi troops attacked Dasman Palace, the Royal Residence, resulting in the Battle of Dasman Palace. The Kuwaiti Emiri Guard, supported by local police and M-84 tanks managed to repel an airborne assault by Iraqi Special Forces, but the Palace fell after a landing by Iraqi Marines (Dasman Palace is located on the coast). The Kuwaiti National Guard, as well as additional Emiri Guards arrived, but the palace remained occupied, and Republican Guard tanks rolled into Kuwait City after several hours of heavy fighting.
The Emir of Kuwait, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah had already fled into the Saudi desert. His younger half brother, Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, was shot and killed by invading Iraqi forces as he attempted to defend Dasman Palace after which his body was placed in front of a tank and run over, according to an Iraqi soldier who was present and deserted after the assault.
Towards the end of the first day of the invasion, only pockets of resistance were left in the country. By 3 August, the last military units were desperately fighting delaying actions at choke points and other defensible positions throughout the country until out of ammunition or overrun by Iraqi forces. Ali al-Salem air base of the Kuwaiti Air Force was the only base still unoccupied on 3 August, and Kuwaiti aircraft flew resupply missions from Saudi Arabia throughout the day in an effort to mount a defense. However, by nightfall, Ali al-Salem air base had been overrun by Iraqi forces. From then on it was only a matter of time until all units of the Kuwaiti Military were forced to retreat or be overrun.
Kuwaiti resistance movement
Kuwaitis founded a local armed resistance movement following the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. Most of the Kuwaitis who were arrested, tortured, and executed during the occupation were civilians. The Kuwaiti resistance's casualty rate far exceeded that of the coalition military forces and Western hostages. The resistance predominantly consisted of ordinary citizens who lacked any form of training and supervision.
Aftermath
After the Iraqi victory, Saddam Hussein installed Alaa Hussein Ali as the Prime Minister of the "Provisional Government of Free Kuwait" and Ali Hassan al-Majid as the de facto governor of Kuwait. The exiled Kuwaiti royal family and other former government officials began an international campaign to persuade other countries to pressure Iraq to vacate Kuwait. The UN Security Council passed 12 resolutions demanding immediate withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait, but to no avail.
Following the events of the Iraq–Kuwait war, about half of the Kuwaiti population, ncluding 400,000 Kuwaits and several thousand foreign nationals, fled the country. The Indian government evacuated over 170,000 overseas Indians by flying almost 488 flights over 59 days. It was the biggest civilian evacuation in history. Alaa Hussein Ali was placed as head of a puppet government in Kuwait, prior to its brief annexation into Iraq.
During the 7-month occupation, the forces of Saddam Hussein looted Kuwait's vast wealth and there were also reports of violations of human rights. A 2005 study revealed that the Iraqi occupation had a long-term adverse impact on the health of the Kuwaiti populace.

Monday, May 16, 2016

A century later today this situation remains unchanged; And the ME continues to bleed

By Lateef Farook  


During the second half of 19th century the British Empire wanted to ensure the Middle East remains destabilized. It was around the same time that the Zionist Jews were planning to set up a separate Jewish state in Palestine where more than 97 percent of the population were Palestinian Arabs-both Muslims and Christians.
Zionist wanted to bring in Jews from all over and settle them in Palestinian lands which, the migrant Jews have not even seen, after killing and kicking out Palestinians from their lands and homes into refugee camps where they still languish.
It was the time when most of the Middle East was under Turkish Ottoman Empire. This was a hurdle which needed to be removed. The opportunity came during World War 1 when Turkey was defeated by allied forces led by Britain and France.
Anticipating the downfall of the Ottoman Empire, Britain and France began secret talks since 23 November 1915 to divide Middle East and bring the entire region under their control. These talks ended up in Sykes-Picot Agreement. Russia was in decline, but Britain and France got Russia involved.
This was the worst ever western conspiracy from which the Middle East suffers even today. After the war Britain and France, as per the agreement, divided the Middle East and defined the borders of their respective new states and shaped the region to suit their purposes.
As per Sykes-Picot Agreement Palestine in the Mediterranean, Jordan, Baghdad and areas around the Persian Gulf were grabbed by Britain while Syria, Lebanon and Turkish Cilicia were brought under French control. Later Egypt was brought under British control while North African countries Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Mauritania came under French control.
Neither France nor Britain actually ‘owned’ these territories, but they were to effectively control them from London and Paris .This situation continues to date.alt
British kept the Arabs in dark of these secret negotiations while Zionists were active partners.The Arabs came to know of the Agreement only when the Russian Communists released its contents in the media- Izvestia
This agreement violated  assurances given by T E Lawrence  ,British Army officer tasked with convincing the Arabs to fight against the Ottoman Empire promising Arabs freedom and their own rule after the war .The Arabs trusted the British but were betrayed .
Documents in the National Archives declassified and published disclosed various assurances of Arab independence provided by Secretary of War, Lord Kitchener, the Viceroy of India, and others in the War Cabinet.
Great Britain never intended to honour the promises that they made. They had used the Arabs to get the Ottoman Empire out of the way protect their own interests.
The entire time Lawrence was negotiating with the Arabs, Great Britain, behind everybody’s back, was negotiating with France, and planning to divide up the Middle East after the war. They needed to make sure there was no united Arab kingdom that would ever get in the way.
altIn the newly created western European model of the nation-states, Britain and France installed corrupted Arab stooges as rulers giving titles such as kings and created Royal families. This concept of Royal family dividing the people and the rulers were in complete violation of Islam which insists on equality.
These, ruthless dictators were expected not to introduce democracy, freedom and develop their countries, keep the people in poverty and illiteracy especially on Islam and never allow Islam to emerge as a force.
Thus today’s political, economic, religious and social scenario in the entire region is the direct outcome of this British French conspiracy.
In partitioning the Middle East Palestine was brought under British Mandatory Authority which, between 1923 and 1948, did everything possible for the Zionist Jews to drive out Palestinians, grab Palestinian lands and create the required infrastructure for a separate Jewish state. For example Jewish migrants were allowed to use arms while Palestinians were tied to lamp post and killed for using a pen knife.
Even before Palestine was brought under British control , in 1917 the British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour  wrote to Walter Rothschild, a leader of the British Zionist Jewish community, stating that: "His Majesty's government view with favor  the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object .
Balfour wrote a memorandum from the 1919 Paris Peace Conference in which he declared that: "The four Great Powers (Britain, France, United States and Soviet Union) are committed to Zionism.  And Zionism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-long traditions, in present needs, in future hopes, of far profounder import than the desires and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land"
 On 30 September 1918, disgusted Arabs, religious leaders and other notables in Mecca 
declared in Damascus a government   loyal to Sharif of Mecca. However Britain supplied weapons and money to Ibn Saud, current ruler of Saudi Arabia, and got Sheriff of Mecca removed and brought the Holy cities of Makkah and Madinah under the control of Ibn Saud family.
“This is the last time the Arab world had a united Islamic State led by a religious leader: the Ottoman Empire, the caliphate,”
Later United States and Soviet Union joined Britain and France, blackmailed member countries in the United Nations and passed a UN resolution establishing the Zionist Jewish state of Israel in 1948, in violation of all known laws, norms and cherished human values.
Britain and France never allowed their stooges, Arab dictators, to be removed .For example in 1956 Egypt’s popular President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized Suez Canal, which was under British control. Britain, France and Israel jointly invaded Egypt but were forced to withdraw due to pressure from US President Dwight Eisenhower.alt
Avenging this setback in its war of aggression in June 1967 Israel, with the backing of US,UK, France and Russia, annexed Egypt’s Sinai and Gaza, Syria’s Golan Heights,  West Bank and East Jerusalem  from Jordan. This was a crippling blow to Arabs.
During the past few decades Arab dictators   perhaps under pressure from their US- European masters began establishing secret ties and various deals with Zionists virtually abandoning Palestinians. Israel was behind all subsequent wars in the region. Today’s state of affairs was such that Saudi, Jordan, Israel and Israel’s Palestine authority secretly planned the invasion, destruction and the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza.
In the midst under the guise of fighting a war on terrorism US, Britain France and Russia together with Israel demonized and declared war on Islam and Muslims and turned almost developed Arab countries such as Iraq, Libya and Syria into virtual killing fields   besides driving more than 58 million millions of Arabs into refugee camps. For example US-European oil companies grabbed the oil wealth of Iraq besides its billions of investments in the West. In Libya alone they looted 145 tons of Libyan gold besides gaining control over Libyan oil wealth   and its investments abroad. Today Iraqis and Libyans are in refugee camps while Syria is emptied of its people.
Thus four powers have created the environment for the creation of Greater Israel with occupied Palestinians lands and parts of Syria and Iraq and Egypt.
The question is how log these crimes will continue?
Latheef  Farook is Colombo based senior journalist. He can be reached at E mail-almfarook19@gmail.com  16 MAY 2016