August 2

We learned much in our national education curricula about the meaning of national unity and belonging to this country, but the crisis of August 2, 1990, was the lesson that deepened our understanding of patriotism far more profoundly than any written theory, as it touched upon many dimensions of love for the land and attachment to it. We had never heard an explanation or analysis of the concept of “resilience” like the resilience demonstrated by our steadfast people during the Iraqi invasion. They wrote a new chapter for history, inscribing dimensions never before recorded in the dictionaries of the world’s languages. Politicians have written and composed numerous definitions of the concept of politics, and lawmakers have enacted remarkable laws that kept pace with most aspects of life, elevating methods of internationalization to meet the highest aspirations of peoples. Yet the circumvention of international will and the determination of the international community to preserve the dignity and loftiness of my homeland may have no parallel in the present or the future. The role of my country’s leaders at that time—marked by wisdom, political acumen, and diplomacy, and their ability to mobilize international support for the liberation of our homeland—was not merely a reaction imposed by the invader’s betrayal. Rather, it was a testament to the policy, diplomacy, and wisdom charted by my country’s leaders, which later became lessons taught to the great nations and peoples of the world, helping them understand the meaning of freedom and dignity, and the value of the homeland and its citizens. Patience, loyalty, belonging, sacrifice, selflessness, and national responsibility are not mere slogans recited for effect; they are actions that stepped beyond the pages of global dictionaries, inscribed by Kuwaitis and honorable individuals who lived with us on August 2. They rose above their wounds and worked to rebuild the nation, until it returned as a shining jewel among the nations and peoples. These lessons and moral teachings will be inscribed in our children’s curricula so that we may reinforce these concepts across generations.