Ex-Kuwaiti ambassador calls Kerry “catastrophic” for Middle East

KUWAIT CITY – It would be “catastrophic” for the Middle East if Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry was elected to the White House, a former Kuwaiti ambassador to Washington said in comments published yesterday.

Sheik Saud Al Nasser Al Sabah, who was Kuwait’s ambassador to the United States when Republican president George Bush formed a US-led coalition to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi army in the 1991 Gulf War, said a Republican government would do a better job in solving the region’s problems. “If the American administration changes in November, it will be catastrophic… because those Democrats do not understand a thing about foreign policy, and they lack the determination to make decisions the way (president George W) Bush made them in Iraq and elsewhere,” Sheik Saud told Al-Siyassah daily in an interview conducted recently in Kuwait.Sheik Saud served as ambassador to Washington from 1981 to 1992 and also held the Gulf state’s oil and information ministries.He currently holds no official post and his views do not necessarily reflect those of the Kuwaiti government.Kuwait became a staunch Washington ally following the Gulf War, which ended Iraq’s seven month occupation of Kuwait.Kuwait, whose people regard the elder Bush as a hero, opened its territories and air space for the US-led coalition that invaded Iraq last year and toppled Saddam.Kuwait, which was the only Arab country to openly support the war, depends on Washington and other Western allies for its defence.More than any of Iraq’s neighbours, Kuwait wants stability and security restored in the war-ravaged country, fearing that terrorism and infighting in Iraq would spill into it.Sheik Saud told the daily that he feared a Democratic government would “fumble” when making decisions about the Middle East.”Our only hope is that this (Bush) administration will continue for the next few years to finish off dealing with our regional problems,” he added.The younger president Bush is running against Kerry for a second term in this November’s vote.- Nampa-AP”If the American administration changes in November, it will be catastrophic… because those Democrats do not understand a thing about foreign policy, and they lack the determination to make decisions the way (president George W) Bush made them in Iraq and elsewhere,” Sheik Saud told Al-Siyassah daily in an interview conducted recently in Kuwait.Sheik Saud served as ambassador to Washington from 1981 to 1992 and also held the Gulf state’s oil and information ministries.He currently holds no official post and his views do not necessarily reflect those of the Kuwaiti government.Kuwait became a staunch Washington ally following the Gulf War, which ended Iraq’s seven month occupation of Kuwait.Kuwait, whose people regard the elder Bush as a hero, opened its territories and air space for the US-led coalition that invaded Iraq last year and toppled Saddam.Kuwait, which was the only Arab country to openly support the war, depends on Washington and other Western allies for its defence.More than any of Iraq’s neighbours, Kuwait wants stability and security restored in the war-ravaged country, fearing that terrorism and infighting in Iraq would spill into it.Sheik Saud told the daily that he feared a Democratic government would “fumble” when making decisions about the Middle East.”Our only hope is that this (Bush) administration will continue for the next few years to finish off dealing with our regional problems,” he added.The younger president Bush is running against Kerry for a second term in this November’s vote.- Nampa-AP