Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Why did we bother?

Almost 22 years ago, in August 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded and annexed Kuwait. The occupation lasted until February 1991 when a multinational force led by the United States defeated Iraq, and the al-Sabah government was restored.

According to reports from Barnabas Fund Kuwait's Islamist parliament has passed a bill that makes insulting key Islamic figures and the Quran punishable by death. A law to prevent the construction of new churches and other non-Islamic places of worship has been proposed, as have constitutional changes to impose sharia.

Kuwait has never been a democracy, and I do not wish to start a debate about whether or not the intervention of Australia and other members of the multinational coalition was justified. I simply pose the question of whether or not there was a point to the war if the end result is Kuwait becoming a repressive Islamist autocracy.

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