Crisis in Iraq-U.S. ties

From Merdeka

A crisis in the Persian Gulf has once again erupted with the U.S. becoming infuriated over Iraq's treatment of the Kurds, a tribe living in the northern part of that country. U.S. tempers have been smoldering since President Saddam Husein came to power; it flared wide open when Iraq attacked Kuwait, which gave rise to the famous Gulf War.

In that conflict Iraq lost the war temporarily, since it had to fight allied and U.S. forces armed with sophisticated armory. Even so, Saddam did not give up and refused to compromise with the U.S. Saddam's unconquerable spirit puzzled the U.S. then.

Today, the U.S. and Iraq are locked in battle once again. On September 3, U.S. warheads exploded in several areas of Iraq. But Saddam Husein held on and spurred his people to take up the challenge of the American attacker (Merdeka, Sept. 4).

We have to adopt a wait-and-see attitude, whether Saddam will be able to withstand and fight off the U.S. this time, after all that he had to go through, such as the United Nations boycott. The odor of ammunition hangs in the air, the sky is shaded a fiery red over there. The news will almost certainly be more of an action-filled nature than the news of the Gulf War in the past.

Only, the suffering Iraqis had to stomach then, will most certainly double now.

GH ABIMANYU

Jakarta