Kuwait invasion scars remain

KUWAIT CITY The trauma hotlines will be busy today in Kuwait.

It happens every year on the anniversary of the Iraqi invasion,and the government-run telephone counseling service takes on extrastaff to cope with the calls.

"People have flashbacks," said Dr. Humoud al Qashan of the SocialDevelopment Organization, which has dealt with 15,000 cases since itopened in 1992.

Television programs, newspaper articles, even chance events cantrigger panic attacks.

Two years ago, on Aug. 2, there was a wedding party where someonefired a gun, as happens at some traditional Arab weddings. One of theguests, convinced that the Iraqis were back, went berserk and endedup hospitalized.

Phobias, depression, marital violence, suicide attempts, crime,drug abuse, delinquency-Qashan has a long list of problems that havebecome worse since the invasion.

During the last three weeks of the war, thousands of Kuwaitis wererounded up in the streets and mosques. The Iraqis knew they weregoing to be driven out and wanted hostages to trade, Kuwaitisbelieve. A decade later, 605 Kuwaitis are still unaccounted for. Iraqsays it doesn't know what happened to them.

The experience of 10 years ago has shaken many of Kuwait'sconservative values, and old social taboos have gone, especiallyamong the young. Some refuse to wear the traditional white robe.Others try to look like Americans, their heroes. One of the mostpopular haircuts is "Marine." And, Qashan says, "there is no shamenowadays if you say, `I have a girlfriend.' "

Perhaps this would have happened anyway. Kuwait is a cosmopolitanplace, where about 65 percent of the 2.3 million inhabitants areforeigners. But most are guest-workers from poorer countries-India,Pakistan, Egypt, the Philippines-and are unlikely role models foryoung Kuwaitis.

The increased openness also has a political side that can betraced directly to the war. In 1986, the emir, Sheik Jaber al-Ahmadal-Sabah, dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution.

"People feared that that might be the end of democracy," saidHassan Jawher, now a Shiite member of parliament.

The turning point came in 1990, just after the invasion, when theexiled emir called a national gathering in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. "Weneeded internal unity to face the Iraqi regime. Any fifth columnwould have been a disaster," Jawher said.

The result was a commitment to restore democracy, which kept theKuwaitis united and helped to bolster international support for theircause.

Today Kuwait is the only Arab country in the Persian Gulf regionwith an elected parliament-although women, along with police officersand the military, are not allowed to vote. The 50-member assembly isnotoriously assertive. Last year parliament threw out an emergencydecree made by the emir during a recess that granted women the vote.