*Today is Kuwait’s Liberation Day – the day that Operation Desert Storm, the First Gulf War, successfully restored Kuwait’s sovereignty, eighteen years ago! Wow, I feel old. Yesterday was also Kuwait’s National Day. During my time in Kuwait, I remember these two days as being a time of jubilant celebration! (Lots of colored lights strung up on houses, tons of Kuwaiti flags and the occasional gunfire!) Here is a post I have been working on for quite a while as I attempt to document my experiences in Kuwait 1992-1994.*
Variations on a theme – Submunitions left behind – 1991 Gulf War
Once upon a time I lived in a desert. Sounds awfully romantic. I had wanted this desert to be red, with soft rolling dunes like the Sahara, but it was not. This desert was flat and had been scarred by war. We were not allowed in this desert. It was a dangerous place. The enemy was gone, but the bombs remained, abandoned on the sand like grotesque party favors.
I left that desert over 14 years ago. I often wonder what has become of the remnants of that time, these evil playthings. Have they been left to rot and rust away? Have they all been collected and destroyed? Have the sands captured them and hidden them away? I am certain many have been lost to time and the elements.
While my brother saw the reality of war, my parents and I saw only the aftermath. These photos might remind me of the destructiveness of war, but on an aesthetic level, they are intriguing examples of the textures, shadows and colors of the desert sand. And through time and memory those sands have become for me more rich and varied than I ever could have possibly imagined.
The bomblets featured in these photos were most likely dropped by the Coalition Forces. Thousands of bombs never exploded. Photos taken in the Kuwait Desert in 1992 by my father, an avid military and weapons enthusiast, who by nature of his job had free access to this playground of danger. Enhanced by me.
I have a collection of Kuwait photos on Smugmug, including the desert, oil fires, scanned postcards and a few of the city. I plan to highlight some of these photos throughout the year. I have more photos to upload to Smugmug, as soon as I can get them off of my ailing external hard drive.
Additional Reading:
Kuwait City Journal: With a Bang! Bang! Bang! War Cleanup Goes On. NYTimes article from 1991 on the cleanup efforts.
Landmine Monitor Report on Kuwait 2003
Fatal Footprint: The Global Human Impact of Cluster Munitions from Handicap International, 2006. P.36 gives information on Kuwait.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Hee hee – looking at some of those pictures with you on the weaponry in Keiran – you look SOOO excited to be there. Just like you looked in class, if I recall correctly….
OMG those photos are so embarrassing! And yea, I do seem to have a serious scowl, huh?! For all my teen angst, I do look back on all that time with fond memories! haha but you can’t tell kids that will happen, can you?
Hello from Colorado! (Got to you via “letters from a small state.”)
Looks like you had a good time in BC.
Global Gal, the desert is still a dangerous place, some places are “no-go” and weekly, some poor shepherd gets a leg blown off from stepping on unexploded ordnance, all these many years later.
People talk about how they used to go to the desert in spring, about the wildflowers, but those areas are now fenced off, and still dangerous. So sad.
Intlxpatr – that is exactly what I was wondering. Knowing the extent to which the desert was mined (and the incredible numbers of bomblets that were dropped) I am not at all surprised that there are still casualties. It is sad! Reading through the reports on landmines & UXO around the world is so depressing.