U.S. should launch friendship campaign in Arab countries

In 1968, our family began constructing a new house. At the time Kuwait was experiencing a social and economic transformation as a result of huge oil revenues and a governmental policy that aimed at providing Kuwaitis with comfort and prosperity.

My mother requested that we build an underground water storage tank. We explained that such an old method of storing water was obsolete, but she considered modern methods useless if the Iraqis ever were to invade Kuwait.

We reluctantly fulfilled her request, though no invasion was in sight.

In 1984, we built two new houses, one for my mother and sisters and one for my wife, our children and myself. Again, my mother requested an underground water tank. I tried to convince her otherwise, but to no avail. "The Iraqis will come," she asserted. "We will need water from the underground tank when your modern water apparatuses are damaged."

Six years later, in August 1990, Saddam Hussain did invade Kuwait. The first thing my mother demanded was that we clean the underground tank and fill it with water. For the next seven months, there was no electric power and an interruption in water supplies. The underground tank was the only way we met our need for water.

In the latter part of 2002, with talk rising of a possible U.S. invasion of Iraq, my mother was stricken by kidney failure. She died before this last war broke out. Sorrowfully, she departed not knowing that the reign of Saddam had ended. But had she known, what relief she would have felt!
Kuwaitis feel more relaxed and rejoice at the fall of Saddam.

We are twice grateful to the U.S., for freeing our homeland from Iraqi occupation and for toppling the regime that encumbered us.

Kuwaitis enjoy freedom of expression; the state is not run by intelligence agencies. Kuwaitis travel and are aware of what's happening in the outside world. This makes us different from most Arabs. Of course, we are disliked now more than at any time in the past because we allowed U.S. forces to invade Iraq from our territory. This has led to an internal debate about what our country's relations with other Arab states should be.

One side sees ties with Arab countries as not beneficial and advocates, instead, a strengthened bond with the U.S. Some members of our elected parliament attempted to pass a law forbidding the government from providing aid and loans to a number of Arab states, unless these countries improved their relations with Kuwait. The government is struggling to mend relations with a number of them.

The conventional view is that the war will lead only to more anti-American feeling in the Arab world, and consequently more violence. But the war presents an opportunity to radically change that picture. This may be easier to imagine from Kuwait than other Arab states.

Last week, I visited Cairo to participate in a well-known TV programme. The panel included Saudi journalists, a former Yemeni prime minister, Egyptian researchers, a Syrian academic and a Lebanese journalist. The debate dealt with the war and its aftermath.

I presented the idea of closing the Arab League and forming a new organisation of states that are friendly to the U.S. - Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, the UAE and, of course, Iraq. This could lead to isolating the more belligerent Arab regimes.

My idea was not immediately embraced, of course, but I did feel a change in the positions of the participants after I brought it up. The defence of Arab states seemed weaker and rather sentimental. This affirmed my belief that, in addition to action by the Arab states, now is the appropriate time for the U.S. to establish rapport with Arab peoples.

If the U.S. neglects, challenges, or otherwise fails to deal effectively with the Arab anger, more violence will result. It will be directed not only against the U.S., but some Arab states that are friendly to the U.S.

The Arab people yearn for freedom, and in some of their cries against U.S. policies, they aim to draw attention to their suffering. There is jealousy that the U.S. pays more attention to some Arab countries than others.

America should launch a psychological offensive through a "friendship initiative". By urging Arab governments to liberalise the media the U.S. would solidify its credibility and move closer to the Arab people. These actions would initiate a new debate in the Arab world, replacing the one on the occupation of Iraq.

If this were to happen, I would never need to demand from my children what my mother had demanded from me.

The writer is editor of Al-Watan, a newspaper in Kuwait. Translated from Arabic by Amin Bonnah.

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