Today, two weeks after the breakout of hostilities, we cannot but bow in admiration of the Iraqi people's determination and sacrifice. In spite of the lack of figures and statistics, it is impossible for a people exposed to a deluge of bombs representing the equivalent of 15 Hiroshima bombs, not to suffer the toll of tens of thousands of victims, particularly among civilians: children, women and old people alike. This is a distressing reality to note at the end of the 20th century.
The present situation can be analyzed at different levels. It is a miracle for a country with a population of 17 million and with a GNP lower than that of the quasi totality of the thirty States which are waging a merciless war against it, using the latest technologies and relying on the unreserved collaboration of all the West, to continue to withstand such an impressive coalition of forces.
Each additional minute of resistance is a miracle, particularly when we bear in mind the escalating developments in the Third World, and even in the U.S.A. and Europe which are getting increasingly alarmed and scared. If we take into consideration the huge inequality between the two warring sides in terms of forces, the behaviour of the Iraqi people may be considered a victory gained at the cost of individual sacrifices.
In the meantime, the worst practices are perpetrated by the Israeli forces against Palestinians in their own territory.
Of course, strategic, military and other factors come into play in this large-scale operation. Land warfare has, in fact, already started and Iraq is ready to make considerable sacrifices. Should the opposing armies suffer heavy losses in terms of human lives, that would cause a stir within the West, especially in the United States. The impact on the American and Western public opinion, at large, will be even deeper than the effects of the Vietnam war.
I therefore think that the real war is yet to come It will flare up in the coming ten days. Whatever the outcome, I am convinced that the Arab world will undergo changes which would have been inconceivable 10 or 15 years ago. Public opinion has begun to stir. Recent reports indicate that Aïn Chems University students have started to demand the pull out of Egyptian troops. Similar demonstrations may take place in Syria and even Turkey. As for Iran, it cannot, in case of protracted hostilities, avoid intervening at some point under the pressure of its people ...
While the West seeks to impose its hegemony, Third World populations are striving, in spite of their governments' lethargy, to defend and uphold human dignity. The achievement of
this objective will, in the long run, bring the South even closer to victory, regardless of the military setbacks it may experience in Iraq today and elsewhere tomorrow.
On the eve of Ramadan, a sacred month devoted to brotherhood and peace, one wonders how can any Muslim dare stage war in the holy land against his fellow Muslims. As hundreds of thousands of Arabs and Muslims are undergoing going through this dreadful ordeal, I find it outrageous that my country's information channels show no respect for the sensitivity of a public opinion
eeply grieved by the atrocities inflicted on a nation by the Western forces.
Never before have I adopted such a tone. I cannot help it. The more I read or listen to the international media reports, the less I understand our country's position. We may help by opting for some kind of neutrality, but certainly not by adopting a stance in support of the Western media at this specific juncture. I therefore stress, in my capacity as former director of the Moroccan Radio and Television, that I am profoundly distressed by the attitude of the official information channels as well as by Médi 1 radio station (Tangiers), whose Board is chaired by a member of the government.
I am afraid at the prospects of utilization, by the West or Israel, of quasi-nuclear weapons. But I am convinced that Iraq will not throw the first stone in this respect. Consequently, the world public opinion, particularly in the Arab world, must be fully aware that it is high time to launch the real "Jihad" in the scientific, civilizational and informational senses of the term.
Saudi Arabia has been compelled to increase its oil production to meet the hectically increasing consumption of kerosene by fighter-bombers which are expected to make more and more sorties to identify and destroy Iraqi targets. However, despite the undoubtedly considerable number of Iraqi casualties resulting from the massive deployment of Western forces, the real defeat is that incurred by the West as the embodiment of a value-system with specific cultural and psychological features.
Furthermore, the Gulf region is the stage of a most calamitous ecological blunder, particularly if we bear in mind the fact that Saudi Arabia draws the bulk of its drinking water from the sea. Hence the possibility of a shortage of drinking water supplies to the Arab armies stationed in Saudi Arabia.
American columnist, William Safire, who is notorious for being the mouthpiece of Zionists through the editorials he publishes in "The Herald Tribune," wrote last December 14th that the United States had to use its air force to annihilate, within a month, both Iraq and Kuwait, then destroy, in particular, the water reserves and divert the Iraqi water courses towards Turkey. He added that their best ally against Iraq was thirst, thirst of the Iraqi army.
Al Khadra, Tangiers, February 1st, 1991.