By Nejoud Al-Yagout
You claim that the attack on Kuwait airport was a self-defense strike. The question is: Who were you defending yourself from? Were you defending yourself from the defenseless passengers, many of whom were on their way back home? Was the Kuwaiti man, Ayedh Saad Al-Otaibi, whose limb was amputated a threat to you? Were the airport employees a threat? What about all the other victims you injured, victims of your heartless attack? Were you defending yourselves from them? What about all the missiles and drones that flew above residential areas on the way to your civilian target? What about all the sites you have targeted since February 28th, including our port and Ministry complex and desalination plants, the latter of which also claimed the life of an Indian national?
It is impossible to justify this blatant aggression against a peaceful nation, no matter how hard you try to justify it. There is a beautiful quote in the noble Quran that states, “And when it is said to them, ‘Do not cause corruption in the land,’ they say, ‘We are righteous.’ Unquestionably, it is they who are the corruptors, but they do not perceive it.” And perhaps that is the greatest tragedy: We are dealing with an aggressor who thinks its actions are justified. And yet, there is no justification for attacking an airport; no justification against killing an eleven year old girl, Elna Abdullah, in her home, a girl who happened to be Iranian; no justification for the attacks on Kuwait and the region.
Targeting an airport and civilians is against international humanitarian law. There were people who had not seen their families because of the war and you disrupted their plans. One family will never see their loved one again. What should have been a glorious reunion ended in the death of a living and breathing human being, cutting short the life of a 55-year-old Indian national, Manzoor Ahmed Rehman, who was on his way back home. Is this the self-defense strike that you keep reiterating?
You are also attacking a government, a peaceful government that maintained ties with you even while they knew you did not have good intentions toward it. Our government prides itself on a peaceful foreign policy. And yet you chose to plant terrorist cells in our country throughout the years and attack us when the war started under the pretext that we have US bases here. Our bases are here to protect us from nations like yours, neighbors who sow the seeds of chaos and plot against us. For what? To prove that you are strong? To satiate your expansionist schemes and spread your divisive ideology beyond your borders? No, thank you, Kuwait chooses peace. Always.
True strength is not in bullying your neighbors. True strength is not encouraging your people to become human shields for your infrastructure when the country is under attack. While your neighbors were telling their citizens to stay sheltered, you encouraged yours to rush to bridges and infrastructure sites as a symbolic gesture for unity. Is putting your citizens at risk a gesture of unity? All to win the propaganda war?
Is that what strength means to you? No. True strength is not putting your citizens in danger or imposing ideology on them, as you have for decades, but allowing them to thrive and prosper. True strength is not in being at constant war with others or fighting proxy wars and interfering in regional politics. The downfall of your nation is because of your threatening stance. You are not victims. Rather, you have done everything you can to ensure that the region is unstable and in constant conflict. And that kind of attitude can only have disastrous results for Iran, a country that prides itself on its heritage and culture.
You have done a lot of damage to your own country, your own people, and the region since you came to power. Kuwait was still willing to live peacefully with you after the Iran-Iraq war. But you have proven time and time again that war and killing swim in your veins and that your public image thrives by revealing your fangs and showing off a power you do not have. Because the only power in the world is the power of our Creator. Remember that.
You put an entire country, an entire region, at risk because of an illogical and senseless justification that holds no weight. In addition, you claim to be a Muslim country, but you have attacked more than six Muslim countries since the war started, lest you forget. You insist that you are winning the war. No, you are not winning the war. You may use propaganda and brainwash an entire nation, but you are not winning anything. You certainly have not fooled us or any country in the region. A winner is loved and admired. A winner is a hero who protects its citizens and lives in harmony with its neighbors. A winner does not need propaganda to pump its ego. For now, ask yourself, how can you continue to justify this aggression?
Since the beginning of the war, Kuwait has neither retaliated nor attacked you. And we will not because we thrive on peace and harmony. Our government puts its citizens and residents first and looks for ways to defuse tension. And you have taken advantage of our peaceful stance for too long.
I hope we can rub off on you. Until then, remember, your image is temporary and divine justice always finds its way. Kuwait is small but united under our government, a government we love and pray for, a nation we love and pray for. And locals and expatriates have come together in support of one another in Kuwait.
This will end, but what you have done will remain an indelible imprint in history. It is a shame that you chose to write history in this way. In the meantime, God bless Kuwait, God bless our leaders, and the region and the world. The lesson you keep trying to teach everyone but yourself is not the lesson that needs to be learned. But that is something you need to figure out by yourselves. Here is a hint: It is a four letter word that begins with L and ends with E. Viva l’amore. Eternally.
