Unfaithful allies in the Mideast

Re “Arabs unmoved by Bush visit,” Jan. 19

Kuwait’s foreign minister, Mohammed Sabah Salim Sabah, met with his counterpart in Tehran and told reporters, “Iran is our friend.” In 1990, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, where was this Kuwaiti neighbor and friend? Then, it took 500,000 American soldiers, dispatched by George W. Bush’s father, to rescue Kuwait from obliteration. Today, our troops are protecting such ingrates as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which the story noted “has been pursuing diplomatic initiatives in cooperation with Iran for nearly a year.” What are we doing protecting these fiefdoms that share none of our values of democratic governance, human rights and religious freedom, and who underwrite terrorism?

Our sons and daughters are dying to protect the oil to which we are addicted. Since 1973, when these oil-rich hypocrites first embargoed oil to the West, we have stayed in bed with jackals rather than use our scientific brilliance to develop alternatives to the gasoline-powered automobile engine. As we sow, we reap. In this critical election year, will someone please send us some leaders with brains?

Robert Kotler

Beverly Hills