WAITE'S WEB WORLD
Davin Hutchins' CNN Transcripts
CNN Newsroom
Aired April 29, 1996 3:09 am
TONY FRASSRAND, Anchor: Topping newsroom Worldview today, Kuwait.
People around the world were transfixed when the wealthy emirate was
invaded by neighboring Iraq five years ago. And what happened
afterwards? This week, we go to Kuwait to find out in a special
series by newsroom's Davin Hutchins. We begin today with a look back
at how this small state became the center of a massive desert confrontation.
DAVIN HUTCHINS, Correspondent: Five years ago, the tiny emirate of
Kuwait emerged from the scurge of war, began marching down a long,
winding road to recovery.
On August 2nd, 1990, Iraqi president Saddam Hussein marched half a
million Iraqi troops into Kuwait to settle an old score, citing
unfair oil policies and territorial disputes. In the eight months
that ensued, 500,000 allied troops descended on the Persian Gulf to
eventually expel Iraq from Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm, the
largest military confrontation in recent history.
Few people can forget the vivid images which were broadcast around
the world, soldiers invading the Kuwaiti beachhead, the pillaging of
Kuwait City, the 100-hour ground assault, and, finally, the jubilant liberation.
But five years later, Saddam Hussein remains in power. This pearl in
the gulf faces an uncertain future. But more pressing than any
external threats are the dynamic changes that are taking place within.
The legacy of the Gulf War left the world wondering about this little
nation it so quickly defended, and the Kuwaitis share unanswered
questions themselves, the most pressing of which is, who are we now,
and where are we going?
I'm Davin Hutchins. Travel with me to the Middle East this week, as
the CNN newsroom embarks on a search for Kuwait rediscovered.
Kuwait, a tiny kingdom, an oil-producing giant, a modest Arab nation
and reluctant participant to history. Yet modern Kuwait had humble
beginnings. In the 18th century, fishermen in Bedoin tribes founded
the tiny village of Kuwait on a coastal strip where the Arabian
Peninsula and the Persian Gulf meet.
As the trading of natural gulf pearls grew, so did Kuwait's revenues.
But early in this century, competition from cheap cultured pearls
left Kuwait's pearl-based economy in tatters. But luckily for the
Kuwaitis, they found another income source in the nick of time.
Crude oil was discovered in south Kuwait in 1938, and nothing has
been the same since.
When I arrived in the country, I found only traces of the world that
existed before the oil boom. Expecting to find some old mud huts of
yore, I discovered instead sky scrapers, hotels, and satellite dishes
mark the skyline today. There are still yawas [sp], or cafes, home of
the sheesha [sp] pipe, where Kuwaitis relax and trade stories, but
they can't begin to match the crowds at Hardee's, Pizza Hut,
McDonald's, and the mega-shopping complexes.
The pearl divers and traders have long since gone out of business,
but a handful of men continue to make their living off the sea at the
old Dow [sp] Harbor. The fishermen I met still repair the nets,
maintain the boats, set sail for three days to hopefully return with
a bountiful catch.
The locals will tell you the craftsmen still make traditional dows by
hand, but what I heard didn't seem like a big deal, that is, until I
made it up to Doha [sp] Village, where dows are still built by hand,
and the oldest and largest are still kept on public display.
In downtown Kuwait City, I found few signs of destruction from the
Gulf War, as well. Except for a few selected sites, you can't even
tell the city was a battlefield five years ago. Kuwait Towers,
erected in 1979 and probably the most renowned landmark in Kuwait,
absorbed its share of destruction, but today the Towers, completely
refurbished, attract their share of tourists.
And those sites that remain ruined have usually been left that way
deliberately. The Kuwait National Museum used to house the finest
artifacts from Kuwaiti society, that is, until it was looted by the
Iraqis. The emir left a burnt-out shell as a ghost museum to serve as
a vivid reminder of the destructive power of war.
After half a century of reliable oil revenue, Kuwaitis have zoomed
full-throttle toward the future, with little thought of preserving
the past; and much of what was preserved was decimated by the
invasion, leaving virtually nothing. So I found the best way to
discover Kuwaiti culture is to utilize Kuwait's most prized resource,
the Kuwaitis themselves.
Meet my closest friend, Bederon Uteri [sp], who took me to the old
suchow hareem [sp], or women's market, to see a real slice of Kuwaiti
life and also to buy me my first dashdasha [sp], the traditional
Kuwaiti garment.
After a long day, Kuwaitis usually stay up until the wee hours at
their favorite douahnia [sp], which means little parliament. Here,
Kuwaiti men get together to discuss the news of the day, play cards,
drink endless amounts of tea and Arabic coffee, and, most important,
socialize with close friends. There isn't a city street in Kuwait
without a douahnia, but some Kuwaitis just want to get away from the
hustle and bustle of the city, and since Kuwait is 80 percent desert,
what better place to go?
Another friend of mine, Bhataro Subai [sp], showed me his desert
livestock farm, where I got a chance to milk his camels.
Though the wealth from oil and the legacy of the Iraqi invasion has
left Kuwaitis in a struggle to hold onto their heritage, it's easy to
see that the key to the nation's soul still lies within the hearts
and minds of the Kuwaitis themselves.
Tomorrow, we'll meet three journalists, who'll share their own
experiences about working as a westerner in the Middle East,
strangers in a strange land.
Aired April 30, 1996 4:52 am
CASSANDRA HENDERSON, Anchor: We start today in Kuwait. The oil-rich
emirate has moved beyond the Gulf War and is looking to solidify its
place in the Mid-East. Its soul-searching recently caught the
attention of newsroom's Davin Hutchins. He explores the challenges of
reporting from this region in transition, as we continue our series,
`Kuwait Re-discovered.'
DAVIN HUTCHINS, Correspondent: Kuwait leaped to prominence when Iraq
invaded it five years ago. But still, little is known about this tiny
emirate. Searching for Kuwait's true identity is not easy, and
reporting from there can be a challenge; but reporters love a challenge.
Meet Laura Ingalls, a budding photo journalist. I met her in a
fellowship program sponsored by the National Council on U.S./Arab
Relations. The program sends beginning reporters to the Arab world
for three months. Along with colleague Sarah McBride, the three of us
packed up our bags and embarked on an Arabian adventure.
LAURA INGALLS, `Kuwait Times': Part of the program that I'm with is
to make journalists more sympathetic to Arab causes; and it's helped,
in part. It's definitely expanded my world. I think, before, I would
have said, you know, they're all the same; but now I see there's good
and bad in all.
SARAH McBRIDE, `Kuwait Times': I think the image you get on TV or in
the news in the states is terrorism and fundamentalism. Here in
Kuwait, there's really no terrorism. There are fundamentalists, but
it's such a small part of what makes up the Middle East. I think
people should learn about the other parts, the culture, how warm the
people are, the history--
DAVIN HUTCHINS: After some time in Kuwait, I also discovered that
Kuwaitis do not conform to media stereotypes. Most Kuwaitis are
devout, family-oriented Arabs seeking a better future in a country
with a higher-than-average living standard.
Kuwait's constitution guarantees native Kuwaitis employment, and 92
percent work for the government. Yet other nationalities comprise 75
percent of the total work force. Indians, Pakistanis, Filipinos,
Europeans, and Americans often perform jobs in the private sector
that many Kuwaitis won't.
Sarah and I wanted to find out more. We visited a Bangladeshi labor
camp, where we found nearly 200 men living in cramped quarters,
sometimes two dozen to a room, each one working for about 75 U.S.
dollars per month. Pressing social problems, like this one, often go
under-reported. Kuwaiti newspapers practice self-censorship, avoiding
subjects too critical of Kuwaiti society.
LAURA INGALLS: From United States' perspective, there is no free press.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: The situation is worse for television and radio
reporters. Justine Shier is an anchorwoman for an English language
newscast at Kuwait State Television, where the top stories must
conform with government policy.
JUSTINE SHIER, Kuwait TV 2 News: It's extremely frustrating. October,
'94, when Saddam Hussein-- they had troops massing toward the
Kuwait/Iraq border. Now, we had embassies telephoning the ex-pat
community, telling them to be alert, that if something does happen,
you know, that they-- to be ready to be evacuated immediately. But
yet, the Ministry of Information kept playing down. `You're not
providing the service to the community.'
DAVIN HUTCHINS: Despite the limitations, there are rewarding stories
to be told. Laura and I combed the desert to see what Kuwaitis do for
fun. Our first stop, Mutla Ridge, a land formation that boxed-in
retreating Iraqi soldiers along the so-called Highway of Death in
Operation Desert Storm. Today, it's a hang-out for Kuwaiti youth who
like to show off their American-made off-road vehicles on a Friday afternoon.
And what would a trip to Kuwait be without camel races?
After a day at the races with Bedoin families, I felt transported
back to the days before oil. The families' warmth and hospitality
stands the test of time, and all four of us found this, alone, makes
it worth the trip.
JUSTINE SHIER: The thing that strikes me most about Kuwaitis is how
much they care for their children, how much they take of each other.
They look after each other, brothers and sisters, mothers and
daughters, fathers and sons. That is one thing, the most important
thing, that they've introduced me to.
SARAH McBRIDE: Socially, it's a lot of fun. It's very easy to meet
people here. Kuwaitis are very welcoming and friendly, and if you get
the opportunity and you have the inclination to do it--
LAURA INGALLS: Life's too short not to take the plunge; and if you
have the opportunity to go out, see the world, do something you've
never done, don't put it off for the safe option.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: Tomorrow, we'll explore Kuwait's political, military,
and economic changes since the Gulf
Aired May 1, 1996 4:46 am
TERRY FRIEDEN, Anchor: Kuwait tops newsroom's Worldview today. It
hasn't been that long since Iraqi invaders rolled into the emirate
virtually unopposed. It took thousands of allied soldiers to get them
out and thousands more to make sure they don't come back. David
Hutchins has this story as our series, `Kuwait Rediscovered,' continues.
DAVID HUTCHINS, Correspondent: M-1 battle tanks, HUM-Vs, multiple
launch rockets-- It looks like the Persian Gulf War all over again,
but it's not. And war games like these are designed so it never
happens again.
Kuwaitis are taking a crash course in the lessons of war; and after
five years of study, Kuwait is still calculating its Gulf War damages
and trying to keep history from repeating itself.
U.S., British, and Kuwaiti soldiers spent a month training for this
live-fire exercise here at the Oudehri [sp] Range in the middle of
the Kuwaiti desert. War games like this one mark a new era of
military cooperation.
Gen. ROBERT SMALTZER, U.S. Army: Since Iraq's aggression, the Gulf
countries have allowed the United States to reposition equipment here
on the ground. Prior to that, we didn't have very much here. The
collective consensus of the nations in the region-- and they're
fairly well bound together-- was that they didn't need and didn't
desire foreign troops stationed on their soil.
DAVID HUTCHINS: U.S. Army troops are stationed at Camp Doha [sp], a
short drive from Kuwait city. Army commander Bob Smaltzer took me
around the base for a lesson in battle readiness.
U.S.-led forces could not repel Iraq in August of 1990 because
equipment took months to deploy. Now, it's already here. In the event
of another war with Iraq, all that's needed now is for the soldiers
to fly in.
Gen. ROBERT SMALTZER: We can do now, as far as projecting power, in
days and weeks what took months and months to do during Desert Shield.
DAVID HUTCHINS: Recovery is easier with a friend like the United
States, but paying for it is another matter. Kuwait is now the
world's biggest spender on arms per capita. It also owes three
billion U.S. dollars in war costs and another $5.5 billion for reconstruction.
Then there's this mess, scorched oil fields, oil lakes. In 1991,
Iraqis set over 700 oil wells aflame and dumped 11 million barrels of
crude into the Gulf. It took millions to clean up.
Today, the Kuwait Oil Company has recycled 97 percent of the wasted
crude, and the ecosystem seems to be slowly healing itself. But what
about possible health risks? At the Kuwait Institute for Scientific
Research, Dr. Fatima Abdali studies war-related pollution. She says
toxic compounds, derived from oil, linger in the ecosystem and may
contaminate humans through the air they breathe and even the fish
they eat. So, the center is shifting its research to something it
ignored until now.
Dr. FATIMA ABDALI, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research: Long
time pass, and importance of putting the health aspects into our
environmental research aspects, to integrate if there is any data
hereunder. But, as we read in the local newspaper or from our
meetings with our colleagues, their physicians, the civility of
certain diseases is higher.
DAVID HUTCHINS: Diseases like respiratory ailments and cancer. More
pollution and diminished health, perhaps just coincidence. Dr. Abdali
thinks they're linked.
Dr. FATIMA ABDALI: Putting several pieces together maybe will solve
the problem or the puzzle of the environmental catastrophe in Kuwait
and impact on the health of people.
DAVID HUTCHINS: Oil can be asset or liability. It's responsible for
90 percent of Kuwait's revenue. A shift in price can spell disaster,
especially for a country not accustomed to large debt. The National
Assembly wants to reduce the debt and suggests cutting many
government handouts and introducing income taxes for the first time;
but Kuwaitis, used to a coddled lifestyle, may resist the change.
Besides, many voters say the 50-member body is powerless to tackle
problems like the debt or the secularization of society. The emir
makes the real decisions anyway.
Even so, sprouting democratic freedoms at least give Kuwait a new
tool to cope with post-war worries.
RYAN CROCKER, U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait: It's a self-correcting
mechanism. If there is a sense that it's swung too far to a carbon
copy of a Western society, which this is not, then there's going to
be a swing back in the other direction; and, over time, I think you
will see Kuwait continue to evolve as a pretty well-centered,
well-examined society and culture.
I think you see a wide range of influences in play in Kuwait, making
Kuwaiti society kind of a self-inventing, self-evolving phenomenon.
DAVID HUTCHINS: Tomorrow, Kuwait's prisoners of war, an issue that
has kept Iraq out of favor with the international community and keeps
Kuwait in mourning.
Aired May 2, 1996 4:45 am
CASSANDRA HENDERSON, Anchor: Kuwait tops our agenda today. Though the
Persian Gulf War ended in 1991, the search for hundreds of missing
Kuwaiti civilians has never stopped. Many of their relatives believe
they are still alive in Iraqi prisons and are being held against
their will. Davin Hutchins has more, as we continue our series,
`Kuwait Rediscovered.'
DAVIN HUTCHINS, Correspondent: This photograph is the way one Kuwaiti
woman likes to remember her dad, a proud Kuwaiti, loyal to family and
country. But a photo is all she has now. She was 14 when she last saw
her father five years ago, just before the invasion of Kuwait.
But she won't find her father here or anywhere, for he is missing,
seized by Iraqi soldiers during the occupation.
UNIDENTIFIED KUWAITI WOMAN [through translator]: Our home is nothing
without our father present.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: These men, women, and children share the same sorrow.
Their loved ones are missing, too.
Since the Persian Gulf War, the United Nations has demanded that Iraq
release all Kuwaiti prisoners of war; but Saddam Hussein insists all
POWs have been released. However, Kuwait has produced documented
proof that as many as 625 POWs may still be alive in Iraqi prisons.
So, for many families, the Gulf War has not ended yet.
The Al-Yahia family lost their son after he left Saudi Arabia to join
the Kuwaiti resistance in 1990. Suad Al-Yahia told me about the day
her son decided to leave.
SUAD AL-YAHIA, Mother of POW [through translator]: He came and sat
down with me and said, `Mom, please don't be angry with me. This is
my country, and I have to do something for my nation. Whatever
happens to me, don't ever get sad.' I said, `God will be with you. I
will never be angry with you.'
DAVIN HUTCHINS: That was the last Suad ever saw of her son.
Right now, I'm in Sabah Assad [sp], just south of Kuwait City; and
the building you see behind me houses the National Committee for POWs
and MIAs, 600-some-odd Kuwaiti citizens and others who were detained
by the Iraqis and are being kept in Iraqi prisons some five years
after the war, if they're not already dead. The National Committee
provides family counseling and additional income for each POW
household. Manager Doaij Al-Anzi says 625 is a larger number than
most people think.
DOAIJ AL-ANZI, National Committee on POW-MIA Affairs: The problem is
so great in Kuwait. If you take the pro rata to the United States
population, this 600-plus we have, they are equivalent to quarter of
a million Americans. They are equivalent to 80,000 British. They are
equivalent to millions of people if you take India and China. So, it
is-- how small the number is in comparison.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: And not all the missing are men. Beheeja Ma'Arafi's
daughter was a volunteer nurse when abducted. The only word Beheeja's
received about her daughter came from someone who claims he saw her
on the prisoners' bus in Baghdad in 1993. With so little to cling to,
sometimes desperation sets in.
BEHEEJA MA'ARAFI, Mother of POW: We ask Saddam, `Please, release our
hostages.' But, they don't listen [unintelligible].
DAVIN HUTCHINS: This year, Kuwaitis again paid their respects to the
disappeared. This time, each family contributed a clock with images
of the missing, creating a thousand-foot banner to keep the POW issue alive.
If the survivors knew a loved one was already dead, many told me they
could move on with their lives. But without that knowledge, they
don't know when, or if, to give up.
DOAIJ AL-ANZI: They're building hopes of the returns of these parents
or brothers or sisters or mothers. And this is really the most severe
problem we are facing. Is it our guilt to build up their hope?
DAVIN HUTCHINS: I asked each survivor, if they could speak to their
loved one now, what would that message be?
NASIR AL-ATTAR, Brother of POW: That we love you, and we are hoping
and praying for him that he will be released, and we still care about
him and will not forget him.
SUAD AL-YAHIA [through translator]: Son, of all the names I could
call you now, I call you a hero. You are our pride, and God bless
your soul.
AHMED AL-YAHI, Brother of POW [through translator]: I wish I could
see him for just a few minutes and just hug him.
DOAIJ AL-ANZI: We want the whole world to understand. Kuwait is free,
but yet we have 600-plus people are in Baghdad today; and to make it
complete is to receive the fate of those individuals from Iraq.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: Is there anything the world can do [unintelligible]?
DOAIJ AL-ANZI: Yes. Keep pressuring Iraq.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: Tomorrow, we'll wrap up our journey to Kuwait.
Aired May 3, 1996 4:41 am
TONY FRASSRAND, Anchor: Kuwait, then and now. This week, Newsroom
`World View' has focused on what the Emerit has done to move beyond
the Persian Gulf War. We've seen how allied forces and Kuwaiti
soldiers work in tandem to convince Iraq that any potential future
aggression is a bad idea. And what of those missing in the war? The
families of hundreds of civilians who, seemingly, disappeared still
press their search.
We also measured the financial toll of the war, and learned what it
is like now to report from the region. In today's final report, Davin
Hutchins introduces us to Kuwaiti high school students, who say being
a teenager is tough, but it is even tougher when you live in two
cultures at once.
DAVIN HUTCHINS, Correspondent: Grabbing a burger-to-go in a favorite
fast-food restaurant, trying out the latest Nintendo game, off-roading
in a spanking new Chevy 4x4 - a quick glance and you'd swear you
were in America, but we're not in Kansas anymore. This is Kuwait.
U.S. soldiers liberated Kuwait five years ago, and ever since, young
Kuwaitis are flirting with things American. Now, parents fear a
cultural identity crisis. Traditions are left behind for the fruits
of capitalism.
Today, U.S. brand names mark every street corner - Hardee's, Pizza
Hut, even Fudrucker's. This franchise along the seaside is the most
popular hangout for Kuwaiti youth. Why?
1st STUDENT: It's like a meeting ground, and the guys try to pick up
the girls here and the girls, you know, try wearing their nice
clothes and they all come out here and try to impress the guys.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: In a society where opposite sexes rarely mingle
publicly, Fudrucker's is the meeting ground where kids come to eat
and flirt.
Even western pop music has invaded, thanks to Kuwait radio's
immensely popular super station. Host Fayez Mahdi says rock and roll
is not the corrupting force many parents think.
FAYEZ MAHDI, Radio Kuwait: -reflecting the cycle change. I don't
think the super station nor [unintelligible] magazine can force
change. I think it is for the good, not for the bad. I think it is
for the good. And, you know, it's music and we're not, you know- the
deejays are doing a good job, you know, we're not airing anything bad
in music. You like it, listen to it - you don't like it, turn it off.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: But can the flood of imported values be turned off?
Today, more and more teenagers prefer western fashion over
[unintelligible], dating over arranged marriages, and independence
over an early family life. Many parents feel powerless because
society, as a whole, cares little about preserving the past.
JIHAN TAHRAB: Older people tend, perhaps, not to talk very much about
the past. The young don't particularly want to listen.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: But who is listening to the teenagers? I decided to
go straight to the source.
ANWAR MURAD, Student: No matter how much people in the West- how much
Kuwaiti teenagers have been westernized here, they take all sorts of
ideas. They listen to rock and roll as an alternative, they watch
American shows, they watch American movies, they- the thing they will
actually not get rid of is the distashya [sp].
NORA AL-BUNNAY, Student: I like the culture, I like the people, I
like the way- because our religion is really close with the families.
When I went to the States, it is usually- or to any other country-
usually you don't find this connection between people. Not even with
friends. You tie brother and sister and friends. You're all brothers
and sisters as long as you are Muslims. It is just that- that is what
makes me proud to be Kuwaiti.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: Nora feels sorry for Western teens, because they deal
with problems many Kuwaitis don't.
NORA AL-BUNNAY: It's pretty rough there. They lose friends to drunk
driving, teenage pregnancy- there are so many things that- because it
is too- that is why I wouldn't want to raise my kids there. It is
too- here in Kuwait, it is rarely you find a person- hear somebody
died from drunk driving, killed, shot, racism- I don't think there is
that kind of tension here in Kuwait.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: But Kuwait is not immune to modern pressures. After
the Iraqi invasion, the juvenile crime rate climbed to an all-time high.
2nd STUDENT: Teenagers are starting to get into crime a lot. I need-
I mean- they need guidance.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: Yet even the family unit has broken down. Since 1992,
the divorce rate in Kuwait has doubled. Education expert, Hasan
Al-Ibraheem, says this is the heart of the problem. He says Kuwaitis
must forge strong family bonds and embrace modern advances at the
same time.
HASAN AL-IBRAHEEM, Society for the Advancement of Arab Children: We
are witnessing the beginning of a peace process in the Middle East.
We are witnessing the end of war of conflicts, hopefully, and
beginning of scientific, economic competitions. Are we preparing our
children for such competition?
The fear that they have about Kuwait is that it is a big question
mark about where are we going, and it is amazing that kids, young
people, teenagers, sense this lack of direction, sense this lack of
rigid strategic planning for the future, and they react accordingly.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: Naela wants to study child psychology to help future generations.
NAELA AL-MAZEEDI, Student: To know what the children are thinking and
to correct the wrong views that they have, that will really boost, I
mean, society and, really, you'll be seeing it heading towards a
brighter future.
DAVIN HUTCHINS: Some say that youth is a dress rehearsal for the
trials of adulthood, and for Kuwaiti teens, there's already been part
comedy, part drama.
Turning toward the future, they now look to their parents for
direction. Tomorrow's uncertainties may give everyone a case of stage
fright, but most feel it won't stop young Kuwaitis from delivering
that star performance on opening night.
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