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‘US knew of Saddam’s ’90 Kuwait attack plan’
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NewsByte on 14 April, 2008 01:46:09
 
New Delhi, April 14: The US had prior knowledge about Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein attacking Kuwait in 1990 but did nothing to stop him, says a former
Indian diplomat in a new book.
In his book The Ultimate Prize: Oil and Saddam’s Iraq (Allied Publishers),
Ranjit Singh Kalha, former ambassador to Iraq, quotes the US envoy in Baghdad Mr
April Glaspie as telling Saddam on July 25, 1990: "We have no opinion on
Arab-Arab conflict, like your border disagreement with Kuwait".
This was a week before Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990.
The US envoy also told the Iraqi President, "We hope you can solve this problem
using any suitable methods... All that we hope is that these issues are solved
quickly."
Mr Kalha, who retired as secretary in the ministry of external affairs in 2002
and was in Iraq around the time, notes in his book that is replete with
unclassified documents:
"If Saddam had any lingering doubts about the attitude of the US, these were
soon cleared".
According to him, on July 27, 1990, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US was called
to the Pentagon and told, "Iraq is going to invade Kuwait".
Even a day before the Iraqi attack began, Kuwaiti defence minister Sheikh Salem
al-Sabah received a text from the US: "We do not want to alarm you
unnecessarily, but we think the contingency plan should be put into effect...
under no circumstances should the Emir be allowed to spend the night in Kuwait
city. He should cross into Saudi Arabia and go to Khafji, 20 km south of the
border."
Mr Kalha’s book comes at a time when the US’ latest war in Iraq has sparked
off a major debate in the world, particularly amongst Americans, many of whom
are of the view that the war could have been avoided. (IANS)