Faud Al-Hashem       page 4                go to page  1  2  3  4  5  

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.

Back to Rape Of Kuwait