In an article in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa, Kuwaiti journalist Khaled Al-Obysan wrote that Saddam Hussein's death sentence was "a badge of honor on his chest," and called upon the Arab League to support the Iraqi resistance. [1]
The article provoked angry responses in Kuwait, and Kuwaiti Information Minister Muhammad Al-San'usi stated that the paper had been charged with "publishing reports that negatively impact Kuwaiti society." [2]
The following are excerpts from the article:
The Death Sentence is "A Badge of Honor for Saddam and a Mark of Shame for the American Administration"
"America's decision to impose the death sentence on Saddam Hussein, the legitimate president of Iraq, is a badge of honor for Saddam and a mark of shame for the American administration and for its servants in the Arab world. The purpose of [Saddam's] death sentence was to improve the Republican Party's chances in the elections, but instead it [only] strengthened the status of Iraq's legitimate president, Saddam Hussein, throughout the world. [The practice of] occupying an Arab country, arresting its legitimate leaders and sentencing them to death is something that must be opposed at any cost. [A situation in which] national governments are overpowered by foreign forces under various pretexts will lead to occupation of homelands, to a rift in Arab society, to warmongering among [the various elements of] the fabric of the Arab [world], and to foreign hegemony - under which the Arab world will know only absolute occupation, like that [currently] in Baghdad, or indirect occupation, which is what happens when the Arabs' [right to] make decisions is taken hostage.
"[Any] talk of democracy when the Arabs' [right to] make decisions is held hostage by the CIA is [nothing but] a deception that does not stand up to the truth and to the facts. Real liberation means liberating oneself from fear and deception."
Everyone Must Fulfill His Duty: "Denounce the American Occupation Forces, Call Upon the U.S. to Withdraw"
"We ask everyone to fulfill his duty: denounce the American occupation forces and call upon the U.S. to withdraw its forces from Iraq immediately without any preconditions. [Call upon the U.S.] to restore the legitimate [Iraqi] leadership in all Iraqi territories, to compensate [Iraq] for the damage caused by the war, and to return all the stolen property, including archeological treasures, in light of their [great] cultural importance.
"We also demand that the Arab League fulfill its duty and extend financial, political and media support to the Iraqi national resistance - which is the sole legitimate representative of the Iraqi people and is empowered by the legitimate [Iraqi] president Saddam Hussein - until the occupation forces withdraw from Iraq without preconditions.
"Those who expect flowering gardens under the American hegemony will find only hell, and in the future, they will discover that they are nothing but pawns on a chessboard."
[1] Al-Siyassa (Kuwait), November 9, 2006.
[2] Al-Watan (Kuwait), November 13, 2006; Al-Ray Al-'Am (Kuwait), November 16, 2006.
