The Rape of Kuwait > Faud Al-Hashem

Fuad Al-Hashem is what we call in America a late father. He was scared to death to get married but once he met a certain Lebanese woman he managed to overcome his fear and settle down to marital bliss. As a result of the union, he is the doting father of Farah, a two-year-old baby daughter. It was due to this great love of his daughter that Fuad fled through the desert to Saudi Arabia and safety.

Before the invasion, Fuad made his living as a journalist who wrote political articles for a Kuwaiti newspaper. At least that is what he did in the mornings. After lunch, he would go to his toy store which he managed in a Disneyland- type park in Kuwait.

A political writer, Fuad became concerned earlier in the summer when Iraqi newspapers, on the orders of Saddam Hussein, suddenly began their harsh verbal bashing of Kuwait. He followed the Iraqi papers closely, feeling they were part of the emotional build-up designed to arouse the anger of the Iraqi people. After all the talk about oil and money along with the Iraqi troop movements, Fuad thought that there was going to be a "little invasion" resulting in loss of land and an oil field or two. Never in his wildest dreams did he suspect he was in danger of losing his country.

On the morning of the invasion, Fuad woke up at 7:30 and turned on his television to listen to the FM music. He stood in a stupor when he saw a sign on the screen that said "Long Live the Kuwaiti Revolution!" It took him about two minutes to force his body to move. Another shock followed as an Iraqi screamed on the air that there was a Kuwaiti revolution and asked people to come and help. At this, Fuad went into high gear, threw on his clothes without showering or shaving, and jumped in his car, driving away without even waking his wife. He saw Iraqi troops by the thousands swarming all over Kuwait City. His first reaction was, Kuwait is finished and now I have to deal with these Iraqis! By this time he heard bombing and shooting and thought he'd go home and put on Western clothes, as a safety precaution.

His wife was still asleep so he changed clothes and went back out. As a journalist, he was trained to see everything firsthand. He stopped first at the compound of the Emir. He couldn't believe his eyes. The whole neighborhood (the Emir lived in a compound with other members of his family) had been burned to the ground. Only the wall surrounding the compound was still standing and it was burning. While he was looking, two planes flew over, targeting the compound and dropping bombs. One of Fuad's neighbors, a military officer, had been taken to the ruined compound by the Iraqis and told that all of Kuwait would be destroyed in the same manner if the military resisted. The officer was allowed to approach the compound; there he saw the hands and feet of women and children sticking out of the rubble.

As Fuad drove away, he had to swerve around the dead bodies in the streets. The Iraqi tanks had just rolled over the bodies of the Kuwaitis, deliberately smashing their faces.

About this time, Fuad began to think about food for his family. He turned around and made a dash to the supermarket. The supermarkets were crammed with panic-stricken people. Fuad panicked along with the crowd. All he could think of was his daughter and her favorite food, chicken dipped in catsup. Fuad found himself rushing from store to store trying to find chicken. He managed to get catsup but no chicken. He had worked himself into a frenzy over this need to find chicken and neglected to buy anything else. On the road he spotted a chicken delivery truck and managed to get the driver to pull over. Fuad ran toward him and bought three dozen chickens.

Relieved, Fuad drove home with the chickens. At the front door he was met by his wife who was crying and screaming and hanging on to their baby and asking what they were going to do. Fuad calmed her down somewhat and they made a shelter in the basement with beds, blankets, food, and water.

About this time, a doctor from the hospital called and told Fuad to come and pick up his mother who was being treated for a heart condition. The Iraqis were raiding the hospitals and all the patients had to go home. When Fuad arrived at the hospital, he was shocked at the number of dead people. The morgue was filled to capacity and dead bodies were stacked everywhere.

Fuad found his mother and put her in the car to take her home. He was more upset than ever. His doctor friend had advised him what to do for his baby if Iraq engaged in chemical warfare. Fuad decided right then and there that the invasion was not a joke; he knew he could never bear to watch his baby die from chemicals.

On the way home, he decided he had to leave Kuwait as quickly as possible and made his plans. He dropped his mother off at his home and then went from one gas station another, collecting gas for the escape across the desert.

On one of his trips, Fuad was approached by a group of Iraqi soldiers. They told him they were starving and asked if Fuad knew of a good restaurant. Fuad agreed to take them to an Indian restaurant he liked. While driving, he asked the soldiers why they had come Kuwait. The soldiers declared that they had been invited by the people of Kuwait to depose the Emir. Fuad told them that was news to him but the soldiers were certain that was the case. They were sorry that they missed capturing the Emir and the Crown Prince but happy they had Kuwait.

On their way to the restaurant, an Iraqi officer spotted the soldiers in the car with Fuad and forced Fuad to pull over. The officer started screaming at the soldiers that they should not be in a civilian car and that Fuad might be a terrorist. The soldiers leapt out and searched Fuad car but found nothing. They complained to the officer that they were starving. They had not eaten in days and had very little water. The officer screamed at them some more and told them not to do it again. Fuad dropped them off at the restaurant and continued on his way.

Fuad decided to go to his toy store in the amusement park area to see if there was any money left in the safe. He did not know if the Iraqis had gotten there yet or not. Luckily he found the cash in the safe and headed back to his home. He was ready to leave Kuwait.

On the way back home, an Iraqi soldier forced Fuad to pull off the read. When Fuad let down his car window, the cold air of the air conditioner hit the Iraqi in the face. The Iraqi screamed at Fuad, "You Kuwaiti you! Sitting in air conditioning while I suffer in the hot sun! Get out! Get out!" Fuad got out and stood there helpless while the Iraqi drove off with his supplies of gas and what little money he had.

Fuad made his way home and decided he would have to escape in his jeep. He knew it would be rough and bumpy for his wife and child but now he had no choice.

When Fuad walked in his front door, he told his wife they were leaving within the hour. The situation in Kuwait was getting worse by the minute. His mother had gone over to his sister's house so he called her to tell her he was leaving and asked if she wanted to go with him. His mother screamed to him that he was crazy and then hung up the phone. At noon, the worst part of the day for travel, Fuad gathered up some cheese, milk, and bread for the baby and took off.

Near the Saudi border he was stopped at a checkpoint by Iraqi soldiers. Fuad's wife started to cry and told the soldiers that they had to leave because of their baby. Fuad offered money to one of the soldiers to let them pass, but the soldier threw the money back at him and said it was shit money, just like Iraqi money. Fuad tried to give him his watch but the Iraqi glanced at it disdainfully and then threw it back. He told Fuad the watch was cheap and he didn't want it. Fuad kept talking to the man to try to get through but the man got tired of hearing him and started shooting in the air, right next to Fuad's ear. At the sound of the gun, Fuad's wife and baby started screaming, and Fuad took off as fast as he could. He told his wife they would just have to go through the desert.

Fuad will never forget the sights he saw in the desert. He saw entire families dead. He saw abandoned cars with their doors open. He saw a dead man with his head on the steering wheel and his wife beside him. He saw babies trying to crawl under their mothers' clothing. He spotted a car filled with women and children and one lone man outside the car trying to free it from the desert sand. The man was digging frantically but the sand would fill back quicker than he could dig. Fuad decided to stop and help. He told the man that pushing the car with his jeep might hurt the car, but the man did not care; he was stuck in the middle of the desert with women and children. After about six minutes the car was free. Delighted, the man jumped in and roared off with his large family.

Everywhere cars were stuck in the desert sand. Fuad knew that if he and his family had escaped in his car, their fate would have been the same.

Fuad's escape through the desert lasted hours. The ordeal took its toll. His wife was crying. His child would scream every time he hit a bump. Devastated at his inability to help more people, Fuad had to start covering his eyes with his hands.

Suddenly Fuad saw an armed Iraqi soldier standing in the middle of the desert. He was frightened. He slowed and looked at the soldier to see what he was going to do. The soldier, who was about 45, looked Fuad right in the eyes, and pointed his gun toward Saudi Arabia. He was showing Fuad the correct way.

The happiest moment of Fuada life was when he saw a Saudi soldier on the border. The second happiest was when he got into a tub of water. Once safely across the border, however, Fuad felt that if there were chemical warfare his baby would still not be safe. So, he made his way to Cairo to wait out the crisis from a distance.

After his escape, Fuad reflected on the condition of life for his fellow Kuwaitis still suffering under Iraqi rule, especially those who were ill. He recalled the day in 1984 he had visited a friend in the hospital. Fuad had heard a child screaming and, upon investigating, he found that child having dialysis. He was told that the child needed a kidney transplant but that Kuwait did not have a transplant program. Moved, Fuad began working that day to rectify the problem. By the time of the invasion, six years later, the Kuwaiti Transplant Society had arranged transplants for 100 persons. When Fuad heard that the Iraqis were now stealing all the dialysis machines and hospital equipment, he knew that a lot of people would die painful deaths. He is concerned about his family that stayed behind and mourns the loss of his country that, within hours, had just disappeared.

Now in Cairo, Fuad is worried about how to support his wife and child and stunned by the total devastation of his way of life. He masks his concern with a smile, humor, and good nature. I interviewed many such Kuwaitis. I cried a lot. I only laughed once and that was with Fuad Al-Hashem.

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