Gulf Diary

Gulf Diary

1991 8 August 18-25 Gulf Diary (2638) 1

15 January 1991

Today, as the deadline set by the United Nations for the withdrawal of the Iraqi forces from Kuwait draws near, the newspapers are full of speculations as to the future course of events, for after 11.59 p.m. if there has been no move towards withdrawal, America will have the legal authority to use force to expel the Iraqis from Kuwait. The Times of India’s editorial heading, ‘Countdown to Zero’ certainly expresses the tenseness of the situation. American Major J.J. Coghlan, speaking to American AP news agency correspondents at the U.S. headquarters in Saudi Arabia, remarked that “you can gauge the sense of urgency from the way every body keeps looking at his watch as zero hour approaches.” It is from these headquarters that aerial operations are to be launched and controlled until Mr. Saddam Hussain surrenders, or until his country is reduced by aerial bombardment to Stone Age conditions.

Just as the Americans have given an ultimatum to Iraq to withdraw its forces from Kuwait before the 15th of January, 1991, under UN resolution No. 678, God has set a life-span for this world in the course of which man has to reform himself. Then the world will come to an end and everyone will be brought to the court of God to account for his deeds.

If only man were fully alive to God’s message, he would live his life with a greater sense of moral urgency. Everyone would practise self-appraisal. Everyone would show proper restraint in his words and deeds. Everyone would conduct his affairs as if he would not live to see another day. People would feel as if they were already standing before their Lord – even before the Day of Judgement was upon them.

16 January 1991

Compared to Kuwait, with its area of 6880 square miles, Iraq, with its area of 168878 square miles is a very large country. Having spent most of its oil revenue to build up a massive military potential, and taking advantage of the fact that Kuwait had virtually no army, President Saddam Hussain of Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait on the 2nd of August, 1990. After annexing it by force, he called it the 19th province of Iraq.

The UN’s response was prompt. The Iraqi invasion was condemned by most countries of the world, the USA going to the extent of sending a huge task force to impose sanctions against Iraq. This stopped the outflow of oil, from which 95 per cent of the latter’s revenue comes, and sealed off the import of arms. food and other essential supplies. Iraq has no industry or agriculture worth the name. What followed was rhetoric and invective from the ruler of Iraq, President Saddam Hussain, against the U.S. Rejecting the proposal to negotiate with the U.S.A., he tersely asked, “Is Kuwait the 52nd State of the U. S. A.

This kind of question was aimed at side-tracking the issue. It is obvious that Kuwait is neither the 52nd State of America, nor the 19th province of Iraq. Saddam Hussain was blaming America for what he himself was guilty of.

Such double standards are most prevalent today. But people should realize that only such utterances are acceptable as have true value in the eyes of God. In any case in the life, to come, words will lose all meaning. The true believer is one who sets as little value upon mere words today as they will have in God’s divine Court. Faithful is he who accepts most willingly today what he will be forced to accept in the Hereafter. For, by that time, it will be too late.

17 January 1991

The BBC, London announced that the American forces had launched a full-scale attack on the Iraqis at the crack of dawn by Indian Standard Time, the crucial moment arrived at 3.30 am. How strange it seems that something should happen in Iraq in the middle of the night and minutes later the whole world should get instant news of it from a radio news flash from London.

In my short life-span I have been destined to witness two large-scale wars: World War II, led by Great Britain, and the present Gulf War, led by the Americans with the participation of 28 other countries. (The remaining countries are also indirectly involved as this war has the formal approval of the United Nations.)

The Second World War started on the first of September, 1939, when Hitler’s Germany invaded Poland. The Pioneer, published from Allahabad, broke the news under the heading (as far as I can remember) ‘Poland in Germany’s Hands.’

This war of destruction carried on for several years. Only after mass destruction of life and property did Hitler’s arrogance give way to despair.

‘Isolated and reduced to despair, Hitler married his mistress, Eva Braun, on April 30.1945, and committed suicide with her in the ruins of the Chancellery. (19/1011).’

It seems that the Iraqi dictator is trapped in a situation similar to that faced by the German dictator. The Iraqi forces are no match for the Allied Forces. It is like an ant trying to fight an elephant. With such a glaring disparity in military resources, it was more suicidal than courageous on the part of Iraq to become involved in this war.

Iraqi forces are equipped with conventional weapons purchased from the USSR and other western countries, whereas the Americans manufacture their own armaments. A country with acquired arms can hardly be expected to sustain a war and win it against a country which is self-reliant in the matter of weaponry.

18 January 1991

Today’s Hindustan Times carries an article by Mr. A.K. Ray in which he describes it as ‘madness’ and ‘a stupid misadventure’ on the part of Mr. Saddam Hussain to have overrun Kuwait. He goes on to say that the news disseminated about the capabilities of the Iraqi forces are a propaganda ploy and that the Iraqi President shall have to pay a terribly heavy price for his wrongdoings (p. 13).

The writer is absolutely correct. Mr. Saddam Hussain has embarked upon a misadventure which is suicidal; his dreams of becoming an Arab leader show him to be paranoid. It is for the same reason that he attacked Iran in 1980, after abrogating treaty between the two countries. His aim was to control the Shat-el Arab and annex Khozistan in total disregard of the Algiers Treaty of 1957. But the end result was a million lives lost. And a staggering number of people wounded. Iraq’s debt rose to 82 billion dollars. At the time of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, every citizen of Iraq was in debt to the tune of $ 4824.

The war raged for 8 years without Mr. Saddam Hussain having been able to attain his goal, but this did not teach him a lesson. And this time he committed the senseless blunder of challenging a super power – America.

In a strange display of emotions, Muslims the world over are supporting Mr. Saddam Hussain. For most Muslims he has become a hero. This shows how the average Muslim suffers from the same complex as Saddam Hussain. It is nothing but collective egoism which has made them his supporters.

True Islam makes one humble, self-made Islam boosts one’s ego to the point of absurdity. This is the greatest weakness of Muslims today. It is a weakness which has driven them far away from reality, making them ready to fall in line behind anyone who mouths bombastic words, regardless of whether or not his words have any meaning in the world of today.

19 January, 1991

A new technique in modern warfare, known as ‘pinpoint bombing’ was displayed for the first time in the Gulf War. By using this technique, the Allied Forces were able to drop a bomb with great precision on the defence headquarters in Baghdad, despite its being located amidst a cluster of buildings. When they wanted to it the T. V. antenna, they hit just that, and left the building below it untouched.

A report from London (Times of India, January 19, 1991) reads:

At least four of these 4000 air sorties yielded pictures of the sequence of highly accurate attacks that thrilled the military community, heralding a new era in warfare.

It is quite a complicated process to drop a bomb accurately on a target of which the details remain a military secret. However, the principle behind it works something like this. First a satellite takes photographs of the target, which are then fed to a computer. The airborne airplane locates the target with the help of laser beams. When the ‘target matches with the images stored in the computer, the computer activates the release of a bomb which falls on the selected target. The entire operation takes only a few minutes.

It thrills the military processionals to watch the performance of high tech. war machines. But, in truth, it should be God’s power which should thrill mankind, for it is He who is behind the endless possibilities we now see stretching out before us, and it is He who made the human mind capable of harnessing and translating these possibilities into present-day marvels. How ironic it is that the marvels that should serve to remind us of our Creator have instead aroused admiration for some ordinary mortal, a fellow human being who has done nothing greater than invent a technology. If man were to draw proper lessons from these events, the world would witness a revolutionary change in the entire future course of human history.

20 January, 1991

Nawa-e-Waqt, a Lahore daily, gave great prominence to a news item (18 January, 1991) which said that the whole of Pakistan stood united in support of Mr. Saddam Hussain against America, The same newspaper published an article entitled, ‘America–Enemy No.1’ of which the following is an extract:

“President Bush has the distinction of uniting all factions and intelligentsia of Pakistan, who because of him stand together on the same platform, for the first time. The whole nation regards America as the enemy number one of Islam today. This was known all along, but the show of solidarity has taken place for the first time (after America invaded Iraq).”

Muslim newspapers are full of such reports of a ‘united Muslim world.” But this union is negative in character. Any such coming together for purely negative reasons cannot produce genuine unity. At best, it is a foregathering of a temporary nature, and, far from being a show of strength, it is rather a sign of a nation’s weakness.

In recent times, whenever the Muslims have come together on a large scale, the driving force has been negative. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Muslims of the subcontinent united in the name of the khilafat. This was not a positive movement. It came about because of a general antipathy towards the British. Similarly, during the middle of the century the Muslims stood together under the banner of the Muslim League. This, too, was not a positive move. The reason behind this was animosity towards the Hindus. Now towards the end of this century the Muslims appear to be united. But this unity, likewise, is based on an anti-America feeling. Since there is no positive basis for this move, it, too, will be short-lived.

The present-day Muslim leaders repeatedly whip up a state of euphoria over such a show of solidarity. But flames lit in the evening die a natural death before sun-up. And a community plunged in darkness remains racked with disunity and confusion.

Only positive motivation can herald real unity. Negative impulses do little more than collect a crowd. When unity is fostered only by the raising of awareness and the performance of well thought-out acts, what good does it do just to have massive assemblages of unthinking mobs?

21 January, 1991

Time magazine (15-21 January, 1991) reports in its ‘Gulf Special’ that both America and Iraq have reached the point of no return. “Both sides, it seems, are ready for war because neither is willing to suffer a supposedly worse fate – the humiliation that capitulation, or its perception, implies.” (pp. 9-19).

Time is of the opinion that the best choice for Iraq is to withdraw its focus from Kuwait unconditionally. The Kuwaities themselves have consistently said they are willing to negotiate over Iraq’s grievances. Even the international peace conference that Saddam posits as a price for leaving Kuwait has not been ruled out.

According to Time, the U.S. has. already promised publicly that the anti-Saddam coalition will not attack Iraq if its troops leave Kuwait. Furthermore, President Bush had hinted that Iraq could negotiate its border disputes with Kuwait and perhaps get an international conference on the Palestinian problem convened. (p 12) The Soviet Union and France had reiterated that a package deal to solve the West Asia problem could be worked out under the auspices of the United Nations, in exchange for Iraqi with-drawl from Kuwait. Time was hopeful that Israel could be pressurized to give up the West Bank and Ghaza, and let the Palestinians who live there form their own state (page 14).

But Mr. Saddam Hussain rejected all the proposals and the war broke out. Any gain is now out of question. In fact in all probability Mr. Saddam Husain is going to lose whatever he already has. Wisdom lies in demanding more but settling for less. It opens up new avenues for progress if whatever the other party offers, is accepted without a clash. On the other hand if the policy of confrontation is followed, it results in the loss of everything that one already possesses.

Whatever was being offered before the war to Mr. Saddam Hussain, will not be available to him after the war although he will then be full of requests. By that time it will be too late.

22 January, 1991

Britain is one of the members of the multinational forces under the American command. The Tornado, a fighter bomber aircraft of the Royal Air Force, has been carrying out raids on Iraqi targets. Some of the Tornado pilots shared their experiences with the AP correspondents.

“Squadron Leader Pablo mason said, ‘Whenever we fly a mission to destroy an enemy target, there is always the possibility of getting killed. It is all a matter of seconds!”

According to the Times of India (22 Jan. 91) Squadron Leader Mason said:

“There is a constant awareness that in a few seconds time you may not exist.” (p. 7)

This awareness which comes about in a pilot during a war should be an integral part of a believer’s life. A man of true faith considers this world a place of trial. God gives him life and then keeps a watch over him. The moment his time is up, he will be confronted by the Angel of Death, who will take him away to the Hereafter.

The moment the realization dawns that death may come at any moment, any normal human being will become concerned. He will treat each second of his life as if it were the very last. His thoughts will run more on death than on life. He will worry more about tomorrow than about ‘today’. He will endeavour to perform good deeds in this world to earn his reward in the next, for this world-for him-will soon cease to exist. It is only the life hereafter which is eternal.

“In another minute, I may not be here.” This feeling lends more importance to the future than to the present. With this thought in mind, a man will concentrate more on what is to come than on what is going on around him. He will give up seeking this world and devote his entire energies to building for the Hereafter.

(To be continued)