KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - NORTH KOREA AND IRAN

UNCLAS KUWAIT 004102 SIPDIS 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 TSOU PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO XF KU MEDIA REACTION SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - NORTH KOREA AND IRAN Block Quotes -------------- Sunday, October 15, 2006 -- "Sanction Me, Please" was the title of Badrya Darwish's piece on the front page of English daily Kuwait Times where she inquired (10/15): "I don't mean to encourage North Korea to develop weapons of mass destruction. God knows we have enough of those already. I'm actually surprised. Why does North Korea need nuclear weapons anyway? Isn't it a luxury for a poor nation? Is North Korea facing a threat from its neighbors? China is its ally and South Korea has no nuclear weapons." -- Satirical liberal columnist Fuad Al-Hashem penned in moderate Arabic daily Al-Watan under the title "To His Excellency President George Bush" (10/15): "North Korea is a beautiful woman who was raped twice during her youth, once by the Japanese and another by the Americans. Do we embrace the rape victim and apologize and make it up to her, or do we threaten her with more violence, rape, and torment? Mr. President, my confidence in your justice is infinite, so read my words with your heart not your mind, with your conscience not your eyes." -- "We Do Not Want a War in the Gulf" was the title of Saoud Saleh Al-Zuwaikh's piece in moderate Arabic daily Al-Qabas in which he editorialized (10/15): "On the horizon is a war in the Gulf against Iran. A coalition is being put together and deals are being made. The evidence of such activity is abundant. We know that the American administration does not want a radical fundamentalist country in the Gulf region, or anywhere else in the world, especially if such a country threatens American interests." ********************************************* * 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/ ********************************************* * TUELLER