Why did we squander our sweet days?!
In February 1991, Kuwait was liberated from the worst aggression in its history, an achievement that bordered on the miraculous. We were freed in a record time of six months and with minimal damage from the occupation by the world’s fourth-largest army and one of the most brutal tyrants of the twentieth century. Tears flowed like rivers from our eyes, shed in sorrow for our martyrs and noble prisoners, and in indescribable joy at liberation, the return of the homeland, and the restoration of legitimacy, thanks to our brothers, friends, and allies. We believed we had learned the harsh lesson and would safeguard Kuwait to endure forever, ushering in pleasant days for the coming years and decades, providing a level of prosperity rarely offered by any ruling system to its citizens and residents.
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Less than a year had passed since liberation, the blood of the martyrs had not yet dried, nor had the tears of the prisoners’ families subsided, nor had the smoke from our depleted oil wells cleared, when we witnessed the worst transformation in Kuwait’s history. This shift was driven by some bold parliamentarians, ideologically driven partisan politicians, and mercenary, paid media figures. Kuwait began to be treated as a temporary homeland and a refueling station, from which pockets were filled before their final departure. We witnessed grand theft of public funds and the obstruction of strategic projects by successive governments and the private sector, as if Kuwait had no future. Cheap trading in everything became the norm, from forging license plates to falsifying certificates. Pride was taken in alternative loyalties and illicit wealth, while noble morals vanished. Those who held the reins of the state, shamelessly dubbing it an “idol,” and those who defended Kuwait while clinging to it like burning coals, turned against lovers of their homeland—of whom there are many, praise and grace be to God. They acted like the erratic camels of the corrupt and self-serving cliques, whose influence had already corrupted societal values. People grieved over the crises that bred further crises, and endless daily conflicts, which deprived Kuwait’s citizens and residents of 35 years—12,775 days, or 306,600 hours—that should have been enjoyed minute by second. Instead, these years were turned into unending problems, screams, and uproars that reached the heavens, even troubling the planets and astronauts. May God not forgive the champions of falsehood and clamor, the proponents of illegitimate interests, the partisans of alternative loyalties, the hypocritical media figures, and the holders of ill-gotten gains, who transformed our people’s happiness into misery, our joy into sorrow, and our security into fear, squandering our beautiful, pleasant days.
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The final station:
1. They occupied us with every global issue and tragedy, deliberately offending Gulf brothers, Arab friends, and international allies, so that we would remain isolated in the open, devoured by their allies who are our enemies, with no one to support us. Such traitors continue to exist, deserving no lesser title than that. They proceed in their delusion, worshipping money and obedient to their masters and funders. They feel no shame or embarrassment. Had they been in another country, we would have seen them hanging from the gallows. The peoples of the earth will grant no forgiveness to traitors of their homelands.
2. These days, we and our Gulf brothers are entering a dark tunnel, and no one knows how long we will remain in it, nor the price of our exit without having committed any fault. Therefore, may God not forgive those who squandered decades of our time in endless conflicts. They attempted to portray our rulers and governments as our enemies, while simultaneously casting our true enemies—our masters, their cronies, and the patrons of their blessings—as our allies, even though these are the ones seeking our destruction and the ruin of our country. Our allies! How evil is what they have promoted and continue to promote.
3. I urge our future generations, who are the greatest victims of what has occurred, as well as true patriots, the wise, the rational, and lovers of Kuwait among citizens and residents, not to show leniency to those who caused the most severe damage to our country. Let them name things by their true names and ask them: Why did they do what they did? Who was behind them, and how much money did they reap from those actions? As the popular proverb says, “We are the people of Qal’at al-Kalman, each knowing his brother.” I believe the harshest punishment for these traitors and criminals is depriving them of what they sold their honor and consciences for, through the public confiscation of their illicit wealth, before their miserable and dishonorable lives end in the depths of prisons. This is a meager penalty for their crimes, and nothing less is deserved for their destruction of our country. Their faces and deeds will be disgraced yesterday, today, and tomorrow!