ustxtxb_obs_1991_11_15_50_00008-00000_000.pdf

Bringing the Gulf War Back Home PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMMAR DASHTI Austin photographer Ammar. Dashti returned to his homeland of Kuwait last August for the first time in two years. He took the following photos of the damage inflicted by the Iraqi army on Kuwait. This was shot at 12:30 pm south of Kuwait City, but it seems to have been taken at midnight, thanks to the smoke from burning oil wells. Editor’s Note: Iraq’s August 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait clearly was an act of aggression that led to great suffering by Kuwaitis at the hands of the Iraqi army. But in the course of the resulting war by U.S.-led allies, the systematic destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure has resulted in the suffering of millions of innocent Iraqi civilians. The bombing of Iraqi telephone systems, electrical plants, water treatment plants, bridges and other key structures along with a trade embargo that remains in force 15 months later has reduced economy to a shambles in a nation that used to import 70 percent of its food. International relief workers interviewed in “The War We Left Behind” segment of the PBS series, “Frontline,” reported that infectious diseases, such as typhoid and hepatitis, are running out of control and more than 100,000 children could die of disease and malnutrition as food and medical supplies become increasingly scarce. While President Bush repeatedly stated that the quarrel was with Saddam and not with the Iraqi people, who were encouraged to overthrow the Iraqi president, troops of the U.S.-led coalition, after driving the invaders out of Kuwait and back into Iraq, pulled back and allowed Saddam to crush Kur,dish and Shi’ite rebellions. 8 NOVEMBER 15, 1991