Iraqi Brutality, Exodus Altering Face of Kuwait

In launching a new wave of brutality and temporarily opening the Kuwaiti border, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein appears to be embarking on a strategy to keep control of Kuwait by literally changing its face--ridding it of its own citizens and replacing them with Iraqis and sympathetic Palestinians, U.S. analysts say.

Although the horrifying tales from thousands of fleeing Kuwaitis suggest a situation of unbridled chaos, experts in and out of government say they see a calculated objective behind the campaign of torture and execution of Kuwaitis.

“They want these people out of there,” one U.S. official declared.

“So far, what you see is a logical unfolding of (Hussein’s) plan to secure Kuwait as the 19th province of Iraq. He is changing the Kuwaiti demography,” said Richard W. Murphy, who was the Reagan Administration’s assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and who now is a scholar at the Council of Foreign Relations.

And if Hussein is ultimately pressured to withdraw from Kuwait, this effort could give him a real lever to retain power over the country. “He could offer to hold a referendum under U.N. auspices where every Arab in the country could vote,” one Bush Administration official said.

Several U.S. businessmen who have had contact with Iraq have privately approached the White House with such an idea for free elections, offering it as a means of getting Hussein out of Kuwait without a war.

Not only would Hussein’s allies have a good chance at winning such a ballot, but they could also use it to “create fissures” in the worldwide alliance against Iraq, said Hermann F. Eilts, director of Boston University’s Center for International Relations and a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

It would force U.S. allies--particularly Arab countries--to choose between restoring to the throne a royal family or holding elections that would give other Arabs a voice in running the country. “Many who support us now are not as committed to the (exiled) Sabah government,” Eilts said.

Indeed, Hussein has exploited the resentment of rich Arabs by poor ones, portraying his invasion as the unseating of a corrupt and elitist regime that has ruled Kuwait for centuries. An election would fit many of the themes he has emphasized with some success in the Arab world since the invasion.

Others, however, insisted that such a strategy would not be effective, in part because the United Nations has never preempted an existing government in favor of an invader.

“It’s a nice trick if you can get away with it,” Murphy said. “I don’t think it will work, though.”

Even before Iraq’s Aug. 2 invasion, Kuwaitis were a minority constituting not more than one-third of the 2 million residents of their country. The majority were foreigners, many of them Palestinians, who had sought work there.

They were not eligible for the generous government benefits that were a hallmark of Kuwaiti life and complained that they were not allowed to share in the nation’s wealth.

Since the invasion, the number of Kuwaitis living there has fallen sharply, to the point where U.S. analysts say that only about 250,000 remain. Meanwhile, they say, it appears that Iraqis are being moved into Kuwait.

To destroy Kuwait’s national identity, Iraq has given new names to streets, hospitals and institutions. Iraqis are even reported to be erecting a life-size statue of Hussein in what was once a busy traffic circle in Kuwait City.

In recent days, Iraqi soldiers are reported to have begun searching houses, inflicting beatings and even performing summary executions. At the same time, Iraq has spread the word that it is opening the borders temporarily, suggesting that Kuwaitis should take what may be their last opportunity to escape.

Administration officials say Iraqi soldiers are clearly following instructions. Houses have been ransacked by disciplined troops under the command of officers, they say, and are part of an orchestrated effort to create an atmosphere of chaos. One U.S. official described it as a campaign of “fear, terror and get out while you can.”

U.S. officials say the Iraqi troops have invaded foreign embassy grounds in Kuwait many more times than has been publicly reported, also apparently under orders.

“Special forces units don’t just go out and do these things,” one said.