Yemen, Kuwait and Saddam Hussein [Archives:2007/1026/Letters to the Editor]

S.A. Abdul Wahab
Sanaa, Yemen
[email protected]
The government's policy to unnecessarily provoke Kuwait by public manifestations of support and sympathy for the former dictator of Iraq doesn't make sense at all.

Saddam Hussein is dead and gone – he is history. But Yemen and Yemenis have to survive and move forward. Given our poor economic condition and the desperate state of our people, we need all the help we can from any quarters. What do we gain from antagonising or insulting the people and sensitivities of Kuwait and its people?

The government has to adopt and pursue practical, moderate, progressive and sensible policies to obtain the support of the Gulf and other countries. We should stop self-destructive, emotional and fanatical policies if we want to move ahead, provide a decent standard of living to our deprived masses. We are a responsible country, not a terrorist Jihad outfit like Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda or Hamas, not accountable to its people or to the world. Yemen should learn from the success of Gulf countries, like the United Arab Emirates or Qatar. They have achieved tremendous progress for its citizens not through religious emotions and passions, but through pragmatism and doing what's best for their people and their country. Our country has big potential, but in order to realise that potential we have to let go of our fundamentalism, feudalism and fanaticism. That's the only way to move forward.
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