October 10, 1990: The Nayirah Testimony

October 10, 1990: "The Nayirah Testimony" was given before the non-governmental Congressional Human Rights Caucus, by a 15-year-old girl who provided only her first name, Nayirah.

She spoke of atrocities committed in her homeland, Kuwait, by the army of neighboring Iraq, following their invasion on August 2. Among her claims was that, as a nurse at a hospital in Kuwait City, she witnessed Iraqi soldiers taking premature babies out of incubators in the maternity ward, and leaving the babies to die on the floor. She had hoped that America would come to her country's aid, and remove the Iraqi soldiers from her country.

Her testimony was widely publicized, and was cited numerous times by U.S. Senators and President George H.W. Bush in their rationale to back Kuwait in what became known as the Persian Gulf War.

In 1992, it was revealed that Nayirah's last name was al-Ṣabaḥ, and that she was the daughter of Saud Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States. He was of a different branch of the family from Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, a.k.a. Emir Jaber III, then the monarch of Kuwait.

Furthermore, it was revealed that her testimony was organized as part of the Citizens for a Free Kuwait public relations campaign which was run by Hill & Knowlton for the Kuwaiti government. They thought the American people wouldn't know any better -- and they didn't.

In retrospect, Saddam Hussein, dictator of Iraq, and his troops had done horrible things, and would continue to do so. But, as we'd seen, he was not worth our troops toppling him. And dictators worse than he had been allowed to stand.

Indeed, just 5 years later, President Bill Clinton would send troops to kick Serbian dictator Slobodan Milošević out of Bosnia, and 4 years that out of Kosovo. Milošević killed more people in 10 years than Saddam killed in 25, yet the Republicans in Congress refused to "support our troops" on those occasions. This confirmed a joke that became common before Clinton beat Bush in the 1992 election: "Every day, the people of Bosnia pray for oil."

Nayirah Al-Sabah returned to Kuwait, and details of her life are unknown outside her homeland. Her father, who went on to become Kuwait's Minister of Information (perhaps appropriately) and its Minister of Oil (perhaps even more appropriately), died in 2012.

One thing is for certain: Nayirah did not vote in an election in her home country until at least 2005. No woman did. The Emir had issued a decree allowing it in 1999, but Parliament overruled him. Parliament finally allowed it in 2005. So when America went to war for Kuwait in 1991, it was for a country that, for more than half of its citizens, was not free. So it wasn't about "freedom."

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October 10, 1990 was a Wednesday. The American League Pennant was decided, as the Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-1 at the Oakland Coliseum, completing a 4-game sweep of the AL Championship Series, and winning their 3rd straight Pennant.

Dave Stewart outpitched Roger Clemens, who was thrown out of the game for arguing a ball-four call with home plate umpire Terry Cooney in the 2nd inning. He remains the last Major League Baseball player thrown out of a postseason game. Funny, but, at the time, nobody suspected "roid rage."

Also, since that day, while they never again did so together, Clemens has been a part of 5 Pennant-winning teams, while the Red Sox have won 4 Pennants. But The A's have never won another.

In Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. But the Reds won Game 6 to take the Pennant, and beat the A's in the World Series.

Football was in midweek. The NBA season hadn't started yet. There were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals, 4-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-3 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 8-5 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 6-5 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Bob Probert, better known as one of hockey's fiercest fighters, scored the winning goal with 54 seconds left in overtime.

* And the Boston Bruins beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.