Opinions

I recently found the Arab Times...I prefer it to the Kuwait Times...online. Here's an editorial that I thought was good. Enjoy!

http://www.arabtimesonline.com/kuwaitnews/faqdetails.asp?faid=1134&faqid=9

We don’t want all of us to become bombers

By Ali Ahmad Al-BaghliFormer Minister of Oil

I HAVE not commented on reports about two Kuwaitis who allegedly carried out a suicide bombing attack in Iraq because they are members of two big tribes in Kuwait — Dawaser and Ajman. We are currently facing a critical phase in our history as the elections are fast approaching and tension escalating between the tribes and security authorities. We all witnessed how members of the Awazem and Mutair tribes in the Fifth and Fourth Constituencies attacked police officers when they staged a protest to demand the release of their fellow tribesmen accused of organizing primaries. The confrontation looked like a scene from the ‘Wild Wild West’ movies in the USA.
However, when reports about another Kuwaiti, Hamad Al-Harbi, who allegedly carried out another suicide bombing attack in Iraq, was published in local daily newspapers, I could not help but comment since he is a member of my tribe — Harb. Several young Kuwaitis, who fought in Afghanistan, ended in Guantanamo Prison. Many Kuwaitis criticized me for my refusal to participate in moves to demand the release of Kuwaitis detained in Guantanamo. I detest the prison, especially the atrocities being carried out inside it. I also oppose the detention of individuals in Guantanamo as there were no cases filed against them. However, I chose not to discuss the issue because I believe the US State Department knows the prisoners well, their way of thinking, and their plans after being released from prison.
Now, the assumptions of the US State Department have been proven true. It had earlier claimed that some of the prisoners’ actions are based on their terrorist ideologies. I offer no condolences to the Chairman of the Committee for the Relatives of Kuwaiti Guantanamo Prisoners Khalid Al-Adwah, who keeps on demanding the release of the prisoners as his son is one of them. The US had earlier agreed to release two Kuwaitis from Guantanamo but a high-ranking government official thinks the US will withdraw its decision after the reported suicide bombings in Iraq.
A few weeks ago, Ayman Al-Thawari commended one of the most notorious extremists in Kuwait, who was arrested several times and owns a website encouraging young Kuwaiti men to become suicide bombers. I wonder what kind of information he is secretly passing on to these young men.We are against the way security authorities treat Kuwaitis detained in Guantanamo as this is a violation of their constitutional rights but we should also maintain harmonious relations with the US. We can’t also blame the government for taking action against the Kuwaiti detainees as the problem lies in our laws, which are obsolete and loaded with loopholes. When are we going to pass laws that are appropriate for such actions?