By SJ Otto
An article in The Wichita Eagle, Sunday, tells about a Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program for local military personnel to prepare them for deployment, soon, in Kuwait . According to the article:
"During the Yellow Ribbon training, soldiers and their families attended sessions on addressing stress, financial planning and media relations.
Yellow Ribbon, which is mandatory before deployment, also provides a place for soldiers to sign up for Army Reserve benefits.
“The whole point of this program is to let (soldiers) know that you’re making a sacrifice but you have all these benefits here, even something as small as a storage space to store your car over deployment,” said 1st Lt. Sara Mathewson, one of the organizers of the Yellow Ribbon program.
“People come and they think they have these big, scary things they’re dealing with alone. (Yellow Ribbon) gets people to feel like they’re not alone. It gives them tools to deal with certain things, and makes them aware that other people have the same fears.”
What this article doesn't say is that their deployment is to fight and "sacrifice" for a feudal kingdom that has almost non of the freedoms that supposedly exist in this country. They may believe they are fighting for their own country's freedoms, but they are not fighting for the freedoms of the Kuwaitis
because most of those people don't have many rights.
because most of those people don't have many rights.
According to Human Rights Watch, Kuwait;
"Both free speech and political dissent are stifled in Kuwait . Authorities have stripped Kuwaitis of their nationality, some of whom appear to be targeted because they represented opposition voices. Kuwait has prosecuted people for criticizing the government on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, and, under its telecommunications law, the government can deny access to the Internet, block content, and revoke service providers’ licenses. The government has yet to address the citizenship concerns of minority groups such as the Bidun, who are stateless in Kuwait . Women are discriminated against, and Kuwait has no laws prohibiting domestic violence, sexual harassment, or marital rape."
So why are people from Wichita , KS being asked to go defend Kuwait and its tyrant leaders? During the occupation of that country by Iraq, in 1990, the emir of Kuwait , his family, and other government leaders fled to Saudi Arabia . At home many Kuwait citizens took part in trying to run out the Iraqis. They fought for their country. Many of the country's citizens, including women, took risks and made sacrifices for their home land. Once the Kuwait Royal family got back into power, they kept all rights and privileges for themselves. The women who sacrifices for their country got NOTHING for all their efforts. No political rights were granted anyone. The Royal Family simply took back all the power and money they had and kept it all to themselves. They were cowards who had left the country and hid out during the occupation. They Took no action to defend their land, which was done by the common citizens and the US , but they got all the benefits that came from winning that war.
It is an outright embarrassment that US (Kansas ) soldiers are sent to defend this hypocrite regime. This regime serves US foreign policy in its hegemony of that part of the Middle-east. That is the main reason that the US supports such a government. Such support needs to stop.
Pix by www.arabianbusiness.com.