“IRAN still constitutes a big danger to the regional and international security due to its nuclear program, ballistic missiles, exportation of the thought of grudge and hatred, sectarian tendencies and its dreams to revive the glories of the Persian Empire stretching from the Arabian Gulf to Yemen,” columnist Nasser Al-Otaibi wrote for Al-Seyassah daily Monday.

“Meanwhile, Iran sees at the moment that it has a real opportunity to introduce itself as a regional political, military and economic power. In this context, we refer to the tremendous human resources Iran enjoys at the moment and moreover, it is ruled by an omnipresent regime based on the divine rule theory or the so-called ‘jurist rule’.
“Apart from the above, there is a rival for Iran in the Gulf region at the moment. In the meantime, we have observed how the Iranian regime is currently mobilizing the people as if the Judgment Day is approaching and Imam Mahdi is expected to appear soon.

“Needless to say the involvement of the United States of America in Afghanistan and Iraq in addition to the financial meltdown and its associations currently lashing the West, will help Iran to carry out its schemes, given the fact history has proved that the Iranian mullahs (clerics) will not hesitate to involve their country in any adventure irrespective of the outcomes.

“In this context, we cite how Iran occupied the embassy of the United States of America in Tehran following the downfall of the regime of the Shah in 1979 and detained 52 American diplomats for 444 days. This Iranian behavior shows Iran does not care about any reaction the United States of America or the West in the wake of such a development ignoring the fact that the West is armed to the teeth by weapons of mass destruction.

“In spite of the above, Iran has succeeded in forcing the United States of America to succumb to its demands through the so-called Algeria pact. Not just that, Iran has played a dangerous role in Lebanese events where the Iranian secret service and its agents and Lebanon carried out a lot of dangerous operations such as kidnappings and the assassination of many people in Lebanon.

“Apart from the above, Iran has managed to create a strong local power in Lebanon. This power still constitutes a danger and a threat to the security, national unity and the luxury of Lebanon.
 “On the other hand, Iran has not shown any hesitation in communicating with the Israeli merchants and businessmen to obtain military weapons and spare parts for its American-made warplanes through the so-called ‘Iran-Contra’.

 “Iran now once again is striving to export its revolution to many countries throughout the world in a bid to boost its influence in these countries under Islamic slogans and this means the GCC states must unify their ranks and boost their military, economic and political potentials to encounter and foil Iranian schemes.”

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“Based on its religious notion and logic, the Islamic Republic of Iran says its problems with its neighbors rest in the fact that the latter are not Islamic regimes but allies of the arch-Satan, the United States of America and they are striving to subvert the experiment of the Islamic state which has been revived after many centuries of disappearance,” columnist Dr Mohammad Alyusefi wrote for Awan daily Monday.

“May be the Iranian logic in this connection is sound to some extent because were it not for the countries in the region supporting Saddam Hussein against the then newly declared Islamic Republic of Iran, he would have not waged a war against Iran which lasted for eight years during which the people of both countries incurred lots of losses.
“Not just that, were it not for this support offered to Saddam Hussein by the ‘arch-Satan’ and some other countries, he would not have been in a position to develop the Russian-made Scud missile which he re-named Al-Hussein and Al-Abbas missiles, given the fact these were used against what was called by the then Baghdad radio as ‘the dens of fake and treason’, the Iranian various cities including the holy places.

“In spite of the above, it seems the religious logic of the Islamic Republic of Iran will fail to produce an acceptable religious evidence to justify its aggression against others, because they are Muslims and most of them Shiites.
“In this context, we cite how the Islamic Republic of Iran dried up the Karoon River and this drastic action left the people of Basra, South Iran suffering from a shortage of potable water.
 “Not just that, Iran recently illegally entered the Iraqi territories. However, irrespective of the evidences that may be given by Iran to justify this development, it is needless to say its occupation of some Iraqi territories will not be acceptable.”

“Iran has paid $200 million to Hezbollah to groom it to get involved in the upcoming wave of violence,” columnist and Professor at Kuwait University’s Faculty of Sharia and Islamic Studies Dr Bassam Al-Shatti wrote for Alam-Alyawm Monday.
“Apart from the above, Iran has also paid a huge sum of money to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). Not just that on the Palestinian front we found Iran is currently training 900 combatants from Hamas elements to support the latter and encourage it to turndown the Palestinian-Palestinian reconciliation to keep the Palestinian question suspended.
“Furthermore, Iran has earmarked $100 million to export its revolution to Africa $200 million to destabilize Iraq and Afghanistan. Likewise, Iran has allocated $100 million to destabilize the situation in Pakistan.

“Apart from the above, we have observed that Iran in the framework of its efforts to complicate the situation in the Gulf region had earlier occupied three islands belonging to the United Arab Emirates. Not just that, it built a navy base opposite the Straits of Hormuz to threaten international shipping.
“Recently, Iran occupied an Iraqi oil well and confessed to possessing 10 nuclear stations hinting this number will jump to 20 over the next three years. Likewise, Iran still rejects  demarcation of its maritime frontiers with many of its neighbors including Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

“Israel prevented a Kuwaiti delegation from reaching the City of Nablus in the West Bank to take part in the concluding festivities which were held to mark the declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of the Arab Culture for 2009,” prominent Kuwaiti columnist and attorney Mohammed Musaed Al-Saleh wrote for Al-Qabas daily Monday.
“This happened although the Kuwaiti delegation had received an official invitation from the Palestinian National Authority, but it seems Israel is no longer able to differentiate between a delegation representing Kuwait’s National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) and missiles to such an extent it seemingly believes that the Secretary-General of NCCAL Bader Al-Rifaei represents just another ‘Bader Missile’.

“However, I am pleased to see Israel was afraid of the peaceful Kuwaiti cultural delegation but we presume the Arab countries should take some action against Israel for its attitude against the Kuwaiti delegation.
“Of course, the Arab military arsenals and their armies are not enough at the moment to fight Israel and the Arab regimes use their weapons only to fight the rioters and Palestinian intifada has been transformed into a war between the Fatah and Hamas movements.”

“What is currently taking place on the local political arena, represented by conflicting tribal and sectarian tendencies, does not serve anybody’s interests. These conflicts will neither help to contribute to building our homeland nor give a boost to progress and economic boom,” columnist and former MP Ahmed Al-Melaifi wrote for Annahar daily Monday.
“In this context, we concede that some tribal MPs are involved to some extent because they adopt pure tribal issues to achieve election gains. We also acknowledge that the mistakes committed by these MPs coincide with the violation of laws and legislation to achieve sectarian and tribal gains at the expense of efficient citizens who don’t belong to this tribe or sect.

“In spite of the above, the mistakes should not result in us committing more mistakes and eventually aggravating the problems currently facing our homeland.
“Consequently, we have observed that the programs which have been adopted by some satellite channels were mostly designed to split the unity of the nation to achieve undemocratic objectives at the expense of the country’s Constitution.
 “In other words, these programs were aimed at sowing the seeds of tribal and sectarian discord in the country, but unfortunately the parties which are currently adopting these programs were supported by influential people ignoring the fact that playing with the feelings of sectarianism and tribalism is worse than playing with fire. This will certainly destabilize the community and subvert its foundations.”

“The GCC summit has concluded its session. Several proposals have been put on the table such as the rail project, unification of the currency and customs and passports, one power grid for all states and many other proposals but we wander when they will see the day of light,” columnist Hammad Boodai wrote for Al-Wasat daily.
“Globalization has swept the world, our homes and our living rooms. So it time for us to unite because the enemies are waiting round the corner to strike at an opportune time and the evidence to this is the aggression let loose on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by people who are seeking evil.
“Through unification and solidarity we can stand together and face Iran’s nuclear threat. Moreover, unification is solemn when it comes to attaining accomplishments.”

“MP AbdulRahman Al-Anjari has warned against any rapid decision to approve the unification of Gulf currency. He says it is important to apply policies and strategies before applying this procedure which may hurt the economies of respective countries,” columnist Mazaid Al-Youssef wrote for Al-Shahed daily.
“However, he favors Iraq and Yemen joining the Gulf Cooperation Council countries saying it will benefit the economy.
“Al-Anjari’s view is totally contradictory to the economic mentality as it is high time for the Gulf states to approve the monetary union to make the GCC states the second biggest monetary bloc after the European Union.
“In my simplest and modest opinion I feel the unification of the currency will grant four GCC states a chance to realize their dreams which they have been waiting for a long time.”

“The National Alliance wants to join a confederation of the tribes but when it comes to granting jobs based on qualifications this alliance always backs down on grounds of racism,” columnist Hassan Almhmzy wrote for Al-Sabah daily.
“The National Alliance was disappointed when the government stopped the implementation of ‘useless’ projects which violated the laws because the purpose of these projects was to serve the purpose of only a specific category of the people.”

“The Kuwaiti citizen who received the ‘Al-Sour’ television channel, the license of which was issued in the US, caused great commotion when he underlined a few issues of concern for Bedouns, the media, the parliament and the government on the channel. I followed up the reaction of several MPs on this issue and was surprised to note that they focused on the trivialities and disregarded the essence of the statements”, wrote Fouad Al-Hashim for Al-Watan Arabic daily.
“If I were one of the MPs - God forbid - I would have called for the formation of a committee comprising lawmakers, to question the channel owner Mohammed Al-Juwaihal and ask him to reveal his sources and produce documents to back his claims.
“In fact, I myself checked some of these files and found some of the information mentioned in them to be scary. Unfortunately, these files were issued by corrupt governmental authorities. Al-Juwaihal must either be imprisoned or executed if he is proved to be a liar, but it is important to remember that he, today, is like a mirror in which we see our monstrous selves.”

“I quiver every time I meet unfaithful Islamists who are deeply involved in politics.  A friend, who has been deceived during one of their celebrations, has advised me to be careful whenever I am around these people,” Ali Al-Otaibi wrote for Al-Dar daily.
“Heeding my friend’s advice, I always put my hands in my pocket whenever I walk in a place dominated by long-bearded men as a defense mechanism against pickpockets hiding behind religion.  Nevertheless, I admire religious scholars who shy away from politics and intrigues.
“I was one of those who thought that religious scholar Sheikh Al-Refa’e is a pure and honest person despite his fanatic attitude towards the companions and wives of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).  At the time, I had no problem with his fanaticism because he never raised doubts on a religious doctrine or accused anybody of atheism.  The problem started when he declared that Ashoura is a day of joy and pleasure without taking into consideration the feelings of the Shiites.”

“The political uproar over the suggestions made by MP Ali Al-Rashid to amend the constitution still resounds in our ears”, wrote Dr Hassan Abdullah Abbas for Al-Rai daily.
“Al-Rashid suggested amendments in various articles in the constitution; articles 80 and 60 that concern the required quorum and the number of parliament members, and 101 and 102 asking for opportunities for the government to vote during the vote of no-confidence sessions.
“What one derives from such suggestions is that MP Al-Rashid wants to limit the authority of the parliament. If his suggestions are approved, public voices will be curbed as the MPs represent the people of the country. All ministers of the government, if they decide to take a unanimous stand, will constitute a large number that will be able to override any parliamentary opposition. What is more surprising, however, is that such unconstitutional suggestions come from Al-Rashid, who himself has a legal background.”

“I will not quote Al-Juwaihal, whose statements generated a lot of controversy in the country. He misused the right of freedom of expression to insult other communities, which is an unethical thing to do”, wrote Ali Mohammed Khaja for Al-Jareeda daily.
“However, there are also those who exaggerated the statements made by Al-Juwaihal. This is nothing new, as most people in the country misuse the freedom given to them by expressing trouble-stirring opinions.
“The community should know that Kuwaiti society describes some of its sections with different names that find their origins in the sect’s lifestyle. Some of these labels even include terms like ‘original’ and ‘immigrant’. As every citizen is aware of this nomenclature, the alleged abuses should not be exaggerated to an extent that peace and harmony in the country be disrupted.”

“Expressions which incite sectarian differences are completely rejected. However, if one satellite channel is blamed for such provocation, one MPs’ satellite station had initiated the practice, but it seems those MPs are alarmed and have begun to protest in anger after they have become victims of what they earlier instigated.
“We condemn instigation of sectarian differences, for our belief in the statement Dr Mohammed Al-Busairi made when he said that MPs are responsible for reform, while they press for reducing the severity of punishment imposed over violation of the law governing audio-visual activities, Faisal Abdulaziz Al-Zamel wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“At the same time, we hope the MPs will exercise patience whenever they receive a tip-off or a piece of information and until they have followed up to ascertain the truth, as they are considered professionals who should be able to recognize and check information and its source.
“Moreover, they are responsible for the country’s management. They should know there is a huge difference between statesman and an ordinary person.”


“Responsibility brings with it accountability, and this burden can only be carried by human beings. Man should possess the strength of character to be loyal towards his country, honest in dealings that affect the land, and should not create divisions among his community and his people”, wrote Abu Khalid for Al-Horriya daily.
“Earlier this week, a television channel aired an interview that was lethal enough to incite sectarian violence and tribal clashes. This may have resulted in further tensions in the country.
“At a time when political differences are becoming a cause for concern among people of the state, the parliament and the government decided to take a strong stand to stop transmission of the channel. This is a commendable step that will only reap positive fruit.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb