Kuwait begins to repay the vast debt it owes the U.S.?
■"Kuwaitis Quietly Breach a Taboo: Easing Hostility Toward Israel; Glimmers of a shift that might help the Palestinians," by Hassan M. Fattah, New York Times, 5 October 2005, p. A8.
Not talking money here, but the effort we made militarily to liberate Kuwait. Kuwait has long been a center of gravity in pan-Arabism, and once was the longtime home for the PLO way back when. So when Kuwait's political leadership and mass media heavyweights start floating the notion of normalized relations with Israel as something that's not only timely, given the recent Israeli withdraw from Gaza, but also justified payment for Israel's forbearance back in 1991 (when Saddam's missiles were landing in Israel and Tel Aviv withheld fire at our request), then you just know that the Big Bang is still rumbling in the region.
If Kuwait made this move, it would be huge in terms of symbolism. Other states have already moved in this direction, like Qatar, Tunisia, Pakistan.
Here's the killer quote on connectivity, from a Kuwaiti banker and media commentator: "How can you exert any pressure on someone by not recognizing them? It hasn't worked for the past 50 years, and it's time to change the thinking."
If these are the shifting tides in the region, the question begs, what is State doing to capitalize on this? Where's that article?