Sunday, February 25, 2001

By Jon. R. Anderson
Stars and Stripes

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait — As President Bush dispatches his top diplomat to shore up flagging relations in the Middle East, his father — the former president — will be celebrating with thousands of jubilant Kuwaitis in the country he helped liberate.

The elder Bush — alongside retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, who led the allied coalition to victory in the 1991 Gulf War — will be in Kuwait for festivities throughout the day Sunday and will observe U.S. Army and Kuwaiti live-fire exercises about 50 miles from the Iraqi border, said U.S. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Rick Thomas.

With U.S. and British warplanes overhead, a battalion from the Fort Hood, Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division will join with the Kuwaiti 55th Mechanized Infantry Battalion for maneuvers that will be as much a fiery show for the scores of international journalists now in Kuwait as the fireworks planned for that night.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Colin Powell, another Gulf War vet who was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the war, arrived in Cairo as last-minute preparations were under way in Kuwait on Saturday.

It was the first leg of Powell’s marathon four-day tour of the region, which will also include Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Israel and its occupied territory of Gaza.

President Bush has signaled sanctions against Iraq, which have been in place since the since the war, could be modified in the face of growing Arab dissatisfaction. Many believe the sanctions hurt the Iraqi people while doing little to leverage Saddam Hussein into compliance with United Nations resolutions.

"Colin is going to listen and solicit opinion," Bush told reporters at a Camp David news conference Friday.

Comparing the current sanctions policy to a slice of Swiss cheese — full of holes — Bush said, "We have to figure out a way to make them more effective."

Meanwhile in Iraq, The Associated Press reported that local lawmakers labeled Powell a "criminal" amid chants of "Down, down U.S.A."

"It’s a treacherous visit," legislator Ajeel Jalal al-Yawir was quoted as saying during the protest organized by Iraq’s National Assembly. "We urge the Arab people to oppose this trip."

While those in Kuwait are certainly not opposing the visit of the man most here regard as a hero, the Kuwaiti government withheld support for air strikes launched against Iraqi air defense control sites around Baghdad last week.

While Kuwait did not condemn the strikes — as much of the Arab world did, including Saudi Arabia — the Kuwaiti government remained loudly silent on the issue.

Kuwaitis will not be silent Sunday, however. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Kuwait’s independence and the 10th anniversary of its liberation from Iraq, festivities are planned throughout the week.

Thousands of Kuwaiti flags line every major boulevard and holiday lights wrap Palm trees and lampposts.

If Powell is considered a Kuwaiti hero, former President Bush is among the people’s royalty.

"The people call him Bush Abdulla Sabaah," said one local cab driver, lending Bush the Kuwaiti royal family name.

In many ways, President Bush is picking up where his father left off.

Almost on cue, a still defiant Saddam Hussein attacked U.S. warplanes Thursday in Iraq’s northern no-fly zone the same day Bush was defending airstrikes near Baghdad he approved a week earlier.

Iraqi anti-aircraft gunners fired from sites north of Mosul, said military officials. Aircraft were also lit up by Iraqi radar from sites southeast of Mosul.

In response, patrol aircraft bombed the sites in what was the 11th attack by U.S. warplanes so far this year.

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