VZCZCXRO3626
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHKU #0525/01 1350458
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 140458Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1397
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHWSMRC/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA// IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000525 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, NEA/PI, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, 
B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA 
LONDON FOR NEA WATCHER 
PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO XF KU MEDIA REACTION
SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION -- COLUMNISTS DENOUNCE RECENT MOSUL 
SUICIDE ATTACKS 
 
REF:  KUWAIT 0499, KUWAIT 0500 
 
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SUMMARY 
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Thursday, May 8, 2008 
 
Summary and comment:  Numerous Kuwaiti Arabic language dailies have 
printed editorials and op-eds denouncing the alleged role of three 
Kuwaiti nationals in a recent suicide bombing attack near Mosul, 
Iraq.  It is worth noting that several of the below editorials tie 
these suicide attacks to the larger issue of how to monitor 
extremist activity in Kuwait, ultimately connecting both issues to 
the upcoming May 17 Kuwaiti elections.  End summary. 
 
Block Quotes: 
 
-- Under the headline 'Where is the State Solemnity' Al- Qabas, a 
moderate Arabic language daily opined (05/08):  'It is unfortunate 
that it is no longer strange to hear about Kuwaiti citizens 
attacking a police station, or a government security establishment. 
Nevertheless, the renewed activities by some terrorist organizations 
to send suicide bombers to Iraq and Afghanistan are more dangerous 
and troublesome.  These suicide bombers were not unknown individuals 
without any history of terrorism in their records; or members of 
sleeper cells. In fact, some of these people have just come back 
from the Guantanamo Bay detention center.  Supposedly their 
passports should have been confiscated, and they were allegedly 
under heavy security monitoring by the State... There is no room for 
procrastination in these matters.  The state should exercise its 
power and enforce the implementation of the rule of law in the 
country; otherwise we would be facing a phase of chaos and 
insecurity especially after the recent political mess that we have 
witnessed recently in the country.' 
 
-- A front page editorial in Al-Jarida, a recently founded moderate 
Arabic language daily carried the headline 'Enough Victims' (05/08): 
 'This was not the first time that Kuwaiti young men were involved 
in suicide operations.  However these latest suicide bombing 
missions that took place in Iraq last week were perceived as new 
news.  Kuwaitis have mistakenly thought that those victims of 
mislead information who have been coerced to partake in terrorism 
was a thing of the past, and that they were not part of Kuwait. 
These three suicide operations were a wakeup call to Kuwait and 
Kuwaitis that these terrorist groups are living amongst in our own 
society.  Kuwait has realized it remains a victim of terrorism, and 
its citizens can still be coerced by groups that promote and 
encourage terrorist ideology and export terrorist bombers abroad. 
The government is responsible for these terrorist acts because 
government activities should not be limited to reacting to disasters 
after the fact.  The state is responsible for diffusing and 
disarming these sleeping time bombs before they are detonated.  The 
government should foster an environment that promotes tolerance and 
moderation.  The government should prevent its people from falling 
victims to terrorist and suicide bombing ideologies.  This can only 
be achieved if the society and the government worked hand in hand to 
uproot these radical ideas.' 
 
-- The same moderate Arabic language daily published an editorial by 
Dhari Al-Jutaily under the headline 'Time Bombs Amongst Us', in 
which he wrote (05/08):  'These brain washing operations that have 
claimed the lives of our young men, who have fallen victims to 
terrorist preaching are nothing but the product of the alleged 
Islamic Awakening, or alleged enlightenment that our Islamist 
candidates are promoting in the current elections.  Young men are 
becoming time bombs that are walking and living amongst us... If the 
our country continues to elect these members to the National 
Assembly based on election slogans that are triggered by religious 
sentiments and playing with people emotions; if we continue to not 
select those who have practical solutions for our education, 
economic, and health conditions the entire country would become a 
time bomb.' 
 
--In an editorial, 'Mentality of a Suicide Bomber' in the new Al-Dar 
Arabic language daily, Dr. Abdullah Yousef Sahar, wrote in the new 
Al-Dar Arabic daily an editorial headlined (05/08):  'We should not 
ignore the fact that those who blew themselves up in Iraq and those 
who are spreading sectarianism, and radicalism, and feelings of 
hatred in Kuwait are considered outlaws.  Both have violated the 
nation's rule of law and created for themselves another set of 
illusionary laws.  These two groups of people are time bombs that 
are living among us and can very well select the time and place to 
detonate their bombs.  The danger lies in supporting and electing 
someone with these ideas and state of mind to become a member of the 
 
KUWAIT 00000525  002 OF 002 
 
 
National Assembly.  On election day, we should ask ourselves is 
there anything in common between the guy who blew himself up in 
Mosul, and the candidate who believes in the same radical ideas but 
is now running for a seat in the National Assembly?' 
 
--The moderate Arabic language daily Al-Rai carried an Op-Ed by 
columnist Dr. Hassan Abdullah Abas under the headline, 'The 
Battalion of Abu Omar Al-Harbi' (05/08):  'We were all shocked to 
hear about the suicide bombing operation in Mosul, Iraq, which was 
carried out by three Kuwaitis.  We were shocked not because we have 
not heard of similar operations in the past, but that Kuwaiti 
citizens were the ones who executed these suicide missions... An 
important question is:  should we not worry because these radicals 
detonated their bombs outside our borders, and we were not hurt? 
Unfortunately this selfish belief is shared by many.  We should not 
want to do to others what we do not want to do to ourselves.  Our 
government should wake up and re-examine our educational curriculum 
and the centers of radicalism in mosques and suspicious homes.' 
 
********************************************* * 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s 
 
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
********************************************* * 
 
JONES