War Atrocity Propaganda Exposed

by Mark Weber

A tearful account of Iraqi barbarism, which stunned millions of Americans and fueled popular enthusiasm for war against Saddam Hussein's regime, has now been definitively exposed as a propaganda hoax.

In testimony before a US congressional committee, October 10, 1990, a young Kuwaiti woman, publicly identified only as "Nayirah," tearfully claimed to have personally seen Iraqi soldiers storm into a Kuwait hospital and brutally remove 15 babies from incubators, leaving them "on the cold floor to die." Her moving testimony enraged millions of Americans, who saw it broadcast and re-broadcast on television, and was cited later by seven US Senators in speeches they gave in support of their decision to authorize American military action against Iraq in the "desert storm" Gulf War.

As it turns out, the emotionally powerful testimony was a sham. The young woman never witnessed the alleged atrocity, and "Nayirah" is actually the daughter of Kuwait's ambassador in Washington, Sheik Saud al Nasir al Sabah, a member of Kuwait's ruling clan. Her testimony was part of an extensive public relations blitz organized by the large Washington-based public relations firm of Hill and Knowlton. The PR campaign was financed with millions of dollars from Kuwait's government in exile. More