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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Professor Shaffeq Ghabra of Kuwait University

Aired February 08, 2003 - 07:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Kuwait is in an ominous position as the U.S. war drums beat louder and louder. The country borders Iraq, and already the Kuwaiti government is putting in place security measures to deal with any fallout from a U.S.-led war against Iraq.
Joining me this morning to talk about the high anxiety is Shaffeq Ghabra. He's a professor of political science at Kuwait University.

Thank you so much for being here this morning. We appreciate it, sir.

SHAFFEQ GHABRA, KUWAIT UNIVERSITY: My pleasure as well.

COLLINS: Let me first begin with an announcement that Kuwait made a little bit earlier this week with the no-go zone. On February 15, we know that much of northern Kuwait is going to be shut off much less to the civilians. Does this mean that Kuwait has any sort of knowledge about when a U.S.-led attack may begin?

GHABRA: Well this has been a precautionary measure regarding the potential beginning of a war in the region. And this has prepared everybody for a kind of preparedness and a feeling of needing to take all kinds of measures. So the civilian population is aware of the measures, and this is all now in the public eye. And everybody is kind of connecting with a level of anxiety that has developed in that context. But yet, on the other hand, people who would like to see this all move on, get over with as fast as possible, hopefully as the least pain (ph) possible as well.

COLLINS: Tell me a little bit about what the mood there is at this time. We're talking a lot about high anxiety. What are people feeling?

GHABRA: You know, if you had come to Kuwait like 10 or 15 days ago, you would feel that everything is normal. Journalists who came from the U.S. and from other countries of the world would always ask me and say, "Well, you look very calm. Things seem very calm." People are just going over their lives as normal as anything could be normal.

Now you look at it, it has changed. There is anxiety. There is a level of fear that Iraq could hit Kuwait; that something disastrous could happen. But the overall mood among the people of Kuwait is, let's get this done as quick as possible. And, therefore, the longer the wait the more anxiety. The shorter the wait the better.

COLLINS: Of course. And we know that there are at least 50,000 U.S. military personnel in Kuwait right now. That number could go up to somewhere as big as 80,000. What is that doing to the landscape and to the lives of the Kuwaiti people?

GHABRA: Honestly, we don't feel it. There is an amount of increased security in the country; there is more checkpoints. But you don't feel it, generally. It's being done in a very specific way that doesn't annoy normality of life.

Much of the 50,000 are in the northern area of Kuwait. And it's usually an area where the population doesn't exactly live or go to on the average day. So generally we don't feel it. And it's the anxiety of a potential war, it's the knowledge about a potential war, but there isn't much feeling in terms of day-to-day activities.

COLLINS: And obviously -- we're looking at pictures of U.S. troops there in Kuwait on the right hand side of our screen here. I want to ask you, sir. Surely there is a little bit of fear in Kuwait. And does some of that fear stem from the Kuwaiti people being so helpful and assisting the U.S. troops?

GHABRA: Well if I understand your question -- can you say that again? Was your question...

COLLINS: I'm just wondering if there -- yes, I'm just wondering if there is any fear in Kuwait that there may be retaliatory attacks because of all the assistance that Kuwait has given U.S. troops.

GHABRA: Yes. I get your question. Basically, that fear is normal; that fear exists. That anxiety exists. But, as you all know, I mean America assisted Kuwait in its liberation. It led the coalition of 30 countries to liberate Kuwait in 1990-'91. And there was a commitment by the U.S. to protect Kuwait's borders for the last 10 years.

So if this is a part of a repay that Kuwait is doing both ways, to the United States of America, but also to the people of Iraq who need liberation, then let it be. And in the end, nobody will shed a tear for Saddam Hussein.

COLLINS: All right. We thank you so much for your time this morning. Shafeeq Ghabra, our professor with political science at Kuwait University, thank you again.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





University>


Aired February 8, 2003 - 07:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Kuwait is in an ominous position as the U.S. war drums beat louder and louder. The country borders Iraq, and already the Kuwaiti government is putting in place security measures to deal with any fallout from a U.S.-led war against Iraq.
Joining me this morning to talk about the high anxiety is Shaffeq Ghabra. He's a professor of political science at Kuwait University.

Thank you so much for being here this morning. We appreciate it, sir.

SHAFFEQ GHABRA, KUWAIT UNIVERSITY: My pleasure as well.

COLLINS: Let me first begin with an announcement that Kuwait made a little bit earlier this week with the no-go zone. On February 15, we know that much of northern Kuwait is going to be shut off much less to the civilians. Does this mean that Kuwait has any sort of knowledge about when a U.S.-led attack may begin?

GHABRA: Well this has been a precautionary measure regarding the potential beginning of a war in the region. And this has prepared everybody for a kind of preparedness and a feeling of needing to take all kinds of measures. So the civilian population is aware of the measures, and this is all now in the public eye. And everybody is kind of connecting with a level of anxiety that has developed in that context. But yet, on the other hand, people who would like to see this all move on, get over with as fast as possible, hopefully as the least pain (ph) possible as well.

COLLINS: Tell me a little bit about what the mood there is at this time. We're talking a lot about high anxiety. What are people feeling?

GHABRA: You know, if you had come to Kuwait like 10 or 15 days ago, you would feel that everything is normal. Journalists who came from the U.S. and from other countries of the world would always ask me and say, "Well, you look very calm. Things seem very calm." People are just going over their lives as normal as anything could be normal.

Now you look at it, it has changed. There is anxiety. There is a level of fear that Iraq could hit Kuwait; that something disastrous could happen. But the overall mood among the people of Kuwait is, let's get this done as quick as possible. And, therefore, the longer the wait the more anxiety. The shorter the wait the better.

COLLINS: Of course. And we know that there are at least 50,000 U.S. military personnel in Kuwait right now. That number could go up to somewhere as big as 80,000. What is that doing to the landscape and to the lives of the Kuwaiti people?

GHABRA: Honestly, we don't feel it. There is an amount of increased security in the country; there is more checkpoints. But you don't feel it, generally. It's being done in a very specific way that doesn't annoy normality of life.

Much of the 50,000 are in the northern area of Kuwait. And it's usually an area where the population doesn't exactly live or go to on the average day. So generally we don't feel it. And it's the anxiety of a potential war, it's the knowledge about a potential war, but there isn't much feeling in terms of day-to-day activities.

COLLINS: And obviously -- we're looking at pictures of U.S. troops there in Kuwait on the right hand side of our screen here. I want to ask you, sir. Surely there is a little bit of fear in Kuwait. And does some of that fear stem from the Kuwaiti people being so helpful and assisting the U.S. troops?

GHABRA: Well if I understand your question -- can you say that again? Was your question...

COLLINS: I'm just wondering if there -- yes, I'm just wondering if there is any fear in Kuwait that there may be retaliatory attacks because of all the assistance that Kuwait has given U.S. troops.

GHABRA: Yes. I get your question. Basically, that fear is normal; that fear exists. That anxiety exists. But, as you all know, I mean America assisted Kuwait in its liberation. It led the coalition of 30 countries to liberate Kuwait in 1990-'91. And there was a commitment by the U.S. to protect Kuwait's borders for the last 10 years.

So if this is a part of a repay that Kuwait is doing both ways, to the United States of America, but also to the people of Iraq who need liberation, then let it be. And in the end, nobody will shed a tear for Saddam Hussein.

COLLINS: All right. We thank you so much for your time this morning. Shafeeq Ghabra, our professor with political science at Kuwait University, thank you again.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





University>