For the first time in more than a decade, President Saddam Hussein grudgingly apologized on Saturday to the people of Kuwait for invading their country in 1990, blaming the Americans and the Kuwaiti government for provoking the invasion.
"We apologize to God for any action that may anger the Almighty, if such an action took place in the past, unbeknownst to us but considered to be our responsibility, and to you [Kuwaitis] we apologize on this basis as well," Saddam said in a speech read on national television by his information minister.
"O, you brothers, what we wish for is what we are working to achieve for your brothers in Iraq: to live free, without foreign control of your destiny, will, decisions, wealth, present and future," he added.
Saddam's declaration was delivered as Iraqi officials were handing over to the UN a massive, 12,000 page declaration of their chemical, biological and nuclear industries, as demanded by the Security Council.
The two moves appeared to be a dramatic bid to set aside the nightmare which began with the 1990 invasion, which led to defeat in the Gulf War and a dozen years of crippling sanctions.
In Kuwait, Information Minister Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah rejected Saddam's apology as unworthy of a response and accused the Iraqi leader of inciting terror attacks.
"Regrettably, the speech contained words to which we would rather not stoop and respond," Al Sabah told the Kuwaiti News Agency. "He must apologize to the Iraqi people first for dragging them into wars that wasted their resources and apologize to the State of Kuwait by telling the truth and returning the prisoners."
Kuwait has been pressing Iraq to account for 600 people, mostly Kuwaitis, who disappeared during Iraq's seven-month occupation. Mohammed al-Jassem, editor of the Kuwait daily Al-Watan, said the speech "cannot be considered an apology by any means."
Saddam's comments carefully avoided use of the word "invasion" in describing what he did to Kuwait and sought to cast blame on the Kuwaiti leadership and the US, which again is threatening war if Iraq does not abandon its alleged weapons of mass destruction.
He said Iraq's actions in 1990 were "prompted by so many actions," including joint US-Kuwaiti military maneuvers and Kuwait's lowering of crude oil prices.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2