The Lid is Lifted

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  • 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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