KUWAIT - The Campaign Against Terror - Part 8.

Kuwait has been one of the strongest backers of the US war on terror. Apart from a sense of obligation for the role played by America in liberating it from under Iraqi occupation, the emirate has traditionally taken a strong line against radical Islamist tendencies - despite some hardline views within its own political community. The US expects full co-operation from Kuwait for any aspect of its war on terror, and indications are that the emirate is providing it, although occasionally the rhetoric might sound different due to domestic and regional political compulsions.

A steady stream of high-ranking US visitors has passed through Kuwait since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and each has said that the emirate is providing full co-operation. Kuwait is a preferred ally, one which the US would like to be at the forefront of the war against terror. It is important to note that it was during a visit to Kuwait on Nov. 7, 2001, less than a month after the World Trade Centre and Pentagon attacks, that Secretary of State Colin Powell gave the strongest indication of what was to come: "We must end Osama Bin Ladin's terrorist threat to the world, and deal with the Taliban regime, who has given them haven... And nations such as Iraq, which have tried to pursue weapons of mass destruction, should not think that we will not be concerned about these activities, and will not turn our attention to them".

Kuwaiti officials have been more circumspect in recent months about giving public statements in support of the expected US military assault on Iraq. This posture is adopted mainly to maintain image of Kuwait as being sensitive to Arab opinion in general, rather than to indicate that the emirate would be half-hearted in its support if the US requires military co-operation. There has been a rapprochement between the emirate and Iraq in recent months, following a "reconciliation" at the Arab summit in Beirut in March 2002, but Kuwait has no illusions about what would happen if Saddam emerges as the victor in a geo-political standoff with the US (see following pages).

The emirate is also a convenient ally for the US in the region in another way. As one of the more democratised countries in the Arab World, Kuwait tends to have a less hostile approach to calls emanating from the West for political reform and pluralism in the Arab World. On the contrary, some Kuwaiti intellectuals have been tough on Arab regimes which suppress their own citizens. One of the toughest criticisms of the lack of democracy in the region came in an article written by Kuwaiti university professor Ahmad Al Baghdadi entitled "Sharon Is A Terrorist--And You?" - first published in Kuwait after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and later reprinted in the Egyptian weekly 'Akhbar Al Yom'.

In his article, Baghdadi charged that while Sharon might be a terrorist, at least he does not terrorise the citizens of the country that elected him, imprisoning its writers and intellectuals. On the other hand, he asked: "Didn't the Arab (rulers) carry out terrorism against their citizens within their countries? Persecuting intellectuals in the courtrooms, trials for heresy, destruction of families, rulings that marriages must be broken up (because one spouse is charged with apostasy) - all exist only in the Islamic world. Is this not terrorism? The intelligence apparatuses that killed hundreds of intellectuals and politicians from the religious stream itself... Isn't this terrorism?"

This thinking converges somewhat with the views of conservative observers in the US, who have been saying since the WTC attacks that there has to be a comprehensive overhaul of political systems in the Middle East - with democratisation and liberalisation to be imposed by political pressure (or even military force) if the regimes do not change by themselves. Some observers see a military strike on Iraq, aimed at removing Saddam Hussein and replacing him with a pro-Western federal democracy, as a starting point or model for such changes throughout the region (see News Service of this week).