'Whole world will pay' if US abandons Iraq - Kuwaiti emir

[ECH1969]

A US withdrawal from Iraq would push the country into a civil war that would damage the whole world, the emir of Kuwait said Thursday ahead of talks with French President Jacques Chirac.

"In the current circumstances, an American withdrawal would in no way help bring back stability," Kuwait's Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah said in an interview with daily Le Figaro during an official visit to France. "On the contrary, the situation would worsen and we would see a civil war of great intensity for which the whole world would pay the price."

Asked if the situation in Iraq had almost become a civil war, Sabah said: "I want to hope that is not yet the case." snip.

"On the other hand, American soldiers should leave Iraqi cities and withdraw to their periphery. I told President Bush that several times."

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=77291

[Red Zelda]

1. The emir of Kuwait?

Fuck that totalitarian weasel and the camel he rode in on.

[LisaM]

2. Yes, when will democracy spread in Kuwait?

Wasn't that supposed to happen, oh, back in 1992?

[Tom Joad]

4. Democracy will come when the US stops propping up dictatorships.

[saigon68]

6. Kuwaiti emir will get his ass kicked

If the Bully protecting him becomes tired of the role.

If he wasn't sitting on the oil he would be riding a donkey.

[Tom Joad]

3. The US should withdraw from the whole Middle East.

[bdamomma]

17. not as long as they have oil and we have

Cheney and Bush running/ruining things.

[Tom Joad]

24. Clinton and Gore believed in intervention also.

[Ravy]

5. Well, that is one way to form a coalition! Pull out, and everyone joins! nt

[ECH1969]

7. There is a big reason Kuwait is quite afraid

They fear the Iranian Juggernaut will quickly turn their attention to them after winning Iraq.

[Tempest]

9. They're more concerned with internal chaos

Like Iraq, Kuwait is made up of different groups with a history of conflict.

[ECH1969]

11. Who will be backing the Shia in Kuwait pray tell?

Kuwait knows who its enemies are.

[Tempest]

14. Why would the Shia need Iran's backing?

Like in Saudi Arabia, the Shia are well positioned to overthrow the government without outside intervention.

And it's not just the Shia in Kuwait that could be a problem. There are other groups as well, groups that Iran would not want to see in power.

[independentpiney]

20. Shia are 30% in Kuwait and only 5% in Saudi Arabia

According to the 2001 Time Almanac. Their greatest internal threats come from Salafist extremism.

edited to correct %

[Tempest]

8. How about the rest of the world pay us to stay?

After $300 billion so date, all we've got to show for it is 2,885 dead soldiers and over 25,000 wounded.

Put up or shut up, Sabah.

[AndyTiedye]

10. Yet Even this Emir Wants a Withdrawal to the Periphery (What Murtha Proposed)

"On the other hand, American soldiers should leave Iraqi cities and withdraw to their periphery. I told President Bush that several times."

[ECH1969]

12. The Emir wants us to protect the borders of Iraq

And, keep the Iranians, Syrians, and Turks out, but that is about it.

[mc jazz]

13. withdraw and stay

who cares what side he's on, or if he's a tribal leader so long as he keeps a stable country who cares. His argument is two sided and I found it curious. He says stay in Iraq but WITHDRAW to the bases and keep guarding the oil. I bet the soldiers would love to get out Baghdad and get posted to guard duty. Presumably he is implying a political solution and let outside influences take hold. If this is his plan I like it

[hvn_nbr_2]

15. Should withdraw to the periphery of cities?

Does that make any sense? That's an actual question, not a rhetorical emoticon. It just seems to me that saying the Americans must stay but should withdraw to periphery of cities, to permanent bases, to the Green Zone, to the countryside, to the oil fields, or wherever doesn't make much sense. What will they do (or not do) in the periphery of cities that would be better than what they do now? If they must stay (presumably because of the civil war and to stop the civil war), wouldn't it make sense to be where the unrest and acts of civil war are happening, which seems to be predominantly in the cities?

[warrens]

16. He's more or less right

We should withdraw from the cities, perhaps to Kuwait, and let the Saudis and Iranians put the screws on their respective sectors.

[dchill]

18. 'Whole world will pay'...

Sounds like a good offer to me! Let's do it.

[acmavm]

19. Yeah, it would be nice if someone other than the American

taxpayer had to foot the bills for a while.

[Eurobabe]

21. Memo to Sheik Jabouti, it's ALREADY in a civil war

why the denial? Oh you thought that was a river in Egypt...

[buddysmellgood]

22. More than it is now? I don't think so. Unless he's talking about oil, in which case

I say...Bring it on!.

[closeupready]

23. We can't afford it anymore.

Either in terms of money or lives.

[dipsydoodle]

25. It was the Kuwaiti ambassador to the USA's

daughter who got everyone into this shit in the first place when pretending to be a nurse she made the allegation regarding Iraqi soldiers turfing babies out of incubators. It was that which swung your Congress for the first "war". She subsequently admitted it was a complete fabrication but that the lie had served it purpose.

[classysassy]

26. The reason for the iraqi wars

Bush war #1 #41 and his thuga,Bush war#2,dim son #43 and his cons.

[leesa]

27. I guess by the "whole world" he means himself., I assume How long are we contracted to

prop up Kuwait anyway? Not as long as Israel, I hope.