Documentary did a documentary piece on a group of reunited classmates at an international school in Kuwait and the war that would both divide and forever unite them. Very interesting.
The Guardian put out an article describing the many important pieces of artwork and historic treasures that were scavenged during the Gulf War. The first part of Martin Chulov's article is below:
In a spacious but frugal office in Kuwait, a glossy catalogue lists the dozens of reasons why Kuwait and Iraq are still at daggers drawn after all these years.
Sheikha Hussa Salem al-Sabah thumbs through the pages of the booklet, pointing out the most egregious cases – page upon page of priceless treasures looted by Saddam Hussein's invading army 20 years ago and still missing: a dazzling 234-carat emerald the size of a paperweight; a slightly smaller gem inscribed with exquisite Arabic calligraphy; Mughal-era ruby beads.
"The Iraqis still don't understand the damage they did to us, not just financially, but for our souls," says the daughter-in-law of Kuwait's emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who maintains the dynasty's heirlooms. "It was emotionally wrenching and still is."
Though many of the priceless treasures have been returned to the collection in the bitter decades since, up to 57 remain missing – perhaps lost for ever. At the National Museum across town, they report that the whereabouts of another 487 treasures remain unknown.
Many of the pieces, Kuwaitis believe, now form the core of private collections in post-Saddam Iraq and around the Arab world. To the victims of the 1990 invasion they remain the central reason of a failure to close the unfinished business of the first Gulf war – just as the second one is beginning to wind down.
In the seven years since Saddam was ousted, Iraq has been obliged to settle United Nations-prescribed debts of $43bn (£29bn), and compensations to private families totalling several hundred million dollars more, before being welcomed as a fully-fledged member of the so-called community of nations.
It is a burden that has proven difficult to bear for a brittle state still ravaged by war and chaos and deeply resentful of the fact that Kuwait was not invaded in the name of the current regime in Iraq.
To Iraq's wealthy southern neighbour though, neither 20 years nor the time after Saddam has diminished the desire to reclaim what was lost.
With a higher per capita income than most other Gulf petro-states, Kuwaitis remain sensitive to the claim that their residual hostility is all about getting even richer. "This is about principle," says Sheikha Hussa. "It remains a huge dilemma for us. The people here have a say in everything we do and the parliament does also. This is part of Kuwait's rights and we will continue to press them."
This documentary tells the story, based on first-hand accounts from interviewed passengers and cew, of Flight BA 149 into Kuwait, touching down just in time for the invasion. Thank you to youtube member bjones4 for posting it in ten parts. I will leave you with the description this user provided, as it is phrased better than I could do.
This is the chilling and untold true story of the British, French, German and North American victims of an alleged MI6/Special Forces mission that used a British Airways civilian flight, as a Trojan Horse on the eve of the first Gulf War on August 1st 1990.
The covert mission was an extraordinary gamble that went badly wrong, delivering 367 passengers into the hands of Saddam's Republican Guard.
When the passengers and crew of British Airways flight 149 touched down in Kuwait City en route from Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur in the early hours of August 2nd 1990, their lives would never be the same again. Within hours they became hostages of Saddam Hussein's invading Iraqi army and were detained for months in horrific conditions as part of Saddam's "human shield" programme. Some were released and reunited with their families, through the humanitarian missions of Jesse Jackson and former Prime Minister Edward Heath, but others remained captive for nearly five months.
Many of the passengers have never overcome the trauma of their experience. Several have committed suicide; many have split from their partners and, a decade and a half later, all still live in the shadow of their ordeal. This is their story.
I discovered this on chillnite.com . Really worth watching through all the five videos. Surprisingly, the re-enactment is not super cheese. It tells the story of a young British national, who at 19 at the time, was busted (framed) by a police sting operation that sent him into a Kuwaiti jail. His sentence was cut short, however, with the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, as the prisoners revolted and managed to let themselves out. His story is riveting.
Today marks the 19th anniversary of the invasion of Kuwait. On August 2, 1990, Iraqi troops entered Kuwait and began their military operation to take over the city, catching Kuwaiti soldiers unaware.
There is a youtube account by nighthawk006 that has a plethora of retro compilation clips documenting all the news coverage of the war. I am including two of them, but you can check his account for further if you are interested.
I meant to post about this a while back, but forgot to. I went about a month ago to visit the rusting, defunct Um Al-Aish Satellite Station located north of Kuwait City closer to the Iraq border.
It was pretty interesting and worth going to see before it is too infernally hot to do so. It had a strong post-apocalyptic undertone to it, a cross between 2pac's "California Love" video, the Mad Max series and a low-fi Sci-fi flick.
sustainable urbanization - livable cities - international politics - fair trade - ethical and inclusive globalization - international development and cooperation - economic, social and cultural rights - slum housing rights - equal access for all to the arts
The Eternal UN Declaration of Human Rights
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Jeremy Waldron assesses the Universal Declaration of Human Rights' enduring
relevance to establishing the ethics of global responsibility.
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