The Lid is Lifted
Paul D Kennedy
- When
- Iraq
- invaded
- Kuwait
- on
- the
- 2nd
- of
- August
- 1990
- I
- was
- living
- in
- the
- tallest
- apartment
- block
- in
- the
- downtown
- area.
- I
- had
- a
- grandstand
- view
- of
- the
- tanks
- and
- troops
- as
- they
- came
- swarming
- in.
- It
- was
- all
- kinda
- exciting.
- But,
- six
- hours
- later,
- after
- the
- city
- had
- fallen,
- I
- found
- I
- was
- caught
- in
- a
- trap.The
- Lid
- is
- Lifted
- is
- my
- story
- of
- what
- happened
- in
- Kuwait
- when
- the
- country
- was
- invaded
- by
- Iraq
- on
- the
- 2nd
- August
- 1990.
- Written
- in
- a
- terse
- narrative
- non-fiction
- style,
- every
- word
- is
- true.The
- invasion
- lifted
- the
- lid
- on
- all
- that
- is
- vile
- in
- human
- nature
- and
- the
- many
- civilians
- trapped
- in
- Kuwait
- became
- the
- prey
- of
- armed
- predators.
- I
- too
- was
- one
- of
- those
- victims.Fear
- became
- the
- pervading
- emotion
- for
- most
- of
- us.
- My
- mind
- was
- almost
- destroyed
- when
- I
- was
- held
- at
- gunpoint
- while
- two
- girls
- were
- raped
- in
- my
- home.
- But
- I
- managed,
- somehow,
- to
- convert
- my
- fear
- into
- the
- righteous
- anger
- that
- enabled
- me
- to
- survive.
- My
- anger
- gave
- me
- the
- courage
- to
- face
- the
- facts,
- to
- plan,
- to
- act
- and
- to
- survive,
- and
- to
- carry
- a
- few
- others
- with
- me.However
- The
- Lid
- is
- Lifted
- is
- much
- more
- than
- a
- litany
- of
- horrors.
- The
- story
- describes
- events
- which
- do
- not
- accord
- with
- the
- official
- accounts
- of
- the
- invasion.
- For
- example,
- there
- were
- Jordanian
- troops
- among
- the
- invading
- forces
- …
- we
- found
- several
- empty
- wooden
- ammo
- boxes
- with
- marked
- 'Royal
- Jordanian
- Army'
- on
- the
- side
- lying
- on
- the
- streets
- in
- the
- area
- where
- I
- lived.At
- the
- time
- of
- the
- invasion
- I
- was
- a
- consultant
- for
- one
- of
- the
- premier
- banks
- in
- the
- region
- and
- had
- a
- network
- of
- well-informed
- contacts
- at
- senior
- level
- on
- whom
- I
- could
- draw
- for
- information.Did
- you
- know
- that
- a
- week
- before
- the
- invasion
- scores
- of
- Iraqi
- secret
- police
- had
- checked-in
- to
- the
- main
- hotels
- in
- the
- city
- and
- the
- Kuwaiti
- authorities
- did
- nothing?
- Or
- that
- Iraq
- had
- its
- own
- dock
- in
- the
- port
- area,
- guarded
- by
- its
- own
- soldiers,
- and
- it
- was
- these
- troops
- who
- guided
- the
- invading
- army
- into
- the
- city.The
- invasion
- brought
- out
- the
- worst
- in
- human
- nature.Because
- they
- know
- they
- would
- have
- to
- rely
- on
- America
- for
- their
- liberation,
- the
- Kuwaitis
- instructed
- their
- supermarkets
- to
- give
- food
- to
- Westerners
- but
- to
- refuse
- it
- to
- third-country
- nationals.
- After
- Saddam
- ordered
- 'Westerners
- of
- aggressor
- nations'
- to
- report
- to
- the
- hotels,
- some
- Arabs
- denounced
- their
- European
- and
- American
- neighbours
- to
- the
- Iraqi
- secret
- police.
- An
- American
- hotel
- manager
- refused
- shelter
- to
- two
- Thai
- girls
- who
- had
- been
- raped
- in
- order
- 'to
- safeguard
- his
- hotel'.
- A
- British
- family
- stole
- a
- four-wheel
- drive
- vehicle
- belonging
- to
- an
- American
- family
- and
- deprived
- the
- Americans
- of
- their
- chance
- to
- escape
- across
- the
- desert
- to
- Saudi.
- And
- an
- idiotic
- junior
- official
- at
- the
- British
- embassy
- refused
- to
- replace
- a
- lost
- passport
- on
- the
- spot
- because
- it
- was
- 'outside
- consular
- hours',
- even
- when
- I
- pointed
- out
- that
- travelling
- around
- the
- city
- was
- becoming
- critically
- dangerous.The
- looting
- was
- mind-boggling.There
- was
- the
- 'official'
- or
- politically
- controlled
- looting
- that
- was
- overseen
- by
- the
- honchos
- of
- the
- Iraqi
- Ba'ath
- party,
- using
- the
- Iraqi
- army
- for
- muscle.
- There
- was
- also
- the
- dangerous
- free-for-all
- that
- developed
- as
- law-and-order
- collapsed.Fear
- was
- probably
- the
- dominant
- emotion
- felt
- by
- everyone
- who
- was
- trapped
- in
- Kuwait,
- especially
- in
- the
- early
- days.
- I'll
- never
- forget
- the
- chill
- I
- felt
- when,
- on
- the
- evening
- of
- the
- first
- day,
- Saddam
- threatened
- to
- turn
- Kuwait
- into
- a
- graveyard,
- or
- the
- shock
- when
- he
- announced
- that
- we
- would
- be
- used
- as
- human
- shields
- in
- key
- military
- and
- civil
- installations.
- Or
- the
- fear
- I
- felt
- as
- an
- angry
- Iraqi
- soldier
- slashed
- the
- air
- in
- front
- of
- my
- nose
- with
- a
- bowie
- knife,
- working
- himself
- up
- to
- kill
- me,
- after
- I
- had
- witnessed
- a
- double
- rape.The
- Iraqi
- invasion
- was
- a
- time
- of
- learning
- …
- on
- how
- to
- survive
- in
- conditions
- of
- urban
- strife.
- We
- discovered
- the
- necessity
- of
- binding
- ourselves
- into
- groups,
- rationing
- our
- food,
- controlling
- discord,
- and
- creating
- 'safe'
- rooms
- in
- case
- of
- gas
- attacks.All
- of
- which
- makes
- The
- Lid
- is
- Lifted
- an
- exciting s...
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