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Johnnie Johnson,CLP---- Up-Date from Saudi Arabia
http://two.leasingnews.org/imanges_uael_wael/johnson,johnnie.jpg Leasing News asked Johnnie Johnson, CLP, how things were
going where her worked right after the terrorist bombing in Saudi Arabia.
Here is is his response: Actually, had the pleasure of attending my daughter's wedding.
But, I am back in Kuwait now, and find all well here. Please give my thanks to all who have expressed concern.
The situation here in Kuwait is substantially different than
in Saudi Arabia. First, let
me say that the Kuwaiti people are very supportive of the US role in the Middle East (except for the US policy
with the Palestinian/Israeli conflict), and have been actively supporting
the activities of the Coalition in Iraq. In Saudi Arabia, most of the foreign workers live in "compounds"--special
areas set aside for housing such workers. This means that there is a concentration of people that are readily identified as being
"western", and thus more vulnerable for the sort of terrorist activity that
happened in Saudi Arabia. In Kuwait,
foreign workers live in and among the general population, so it is much more difficult to find a "target".
To answer your question about the accuracy of the information,
the US Embassy, in their latest bulletin for Saudi Arabia, has indicated
the evacuated all non-essential Embassy personnel (which means
mostly family members) and has advised US citizens to "strongly consider"
leaving the country. This is one
step down from the most serious warning, which is to actually advise people to leave. There is a real threat of terrorist activity here, and that can't be ignored--but in our current
world situation the same kind of threat exists everywhere to some
degree. Unfortunately, there happens to be a few more of the "crazies"
actually physically located in this area. On the positive side, the Kuwaiti police and military have
been doing a great job of sorting out the "bad guys" and in
protecting areas where there is a higher percentage of westerners. They typically provide such areas with a 24 hour patrol of either police or military. Common sense and the instructions from the US Embassy help to minimize the risk
as well. There were a number of foreign workers who left Kuwait just before
the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, but most are now coming back
into the country. From a personal standpoint, while living here is not without
some risk, I feel very comfortable with my situation, and have no plans
to leave. I can't make the above comments without making sure that
another point is clarified. The current
world terrorism is unfortunately often tied to the teachings of Islam. I
have meet and worked with many fine Muslim people during my stay in the Middle East. They are generally a devout, family centered people, trying to live and do what is right. After many discussions and substantial personal study,
I can say unequivocally that the
actions of the "Islamic terrorists" of the world do not represent
the beliefs and teachings of Islam. What they do represent are the actions of men who perversely use religion as a tool to reach their
own selfish ambitions and/or political agendas. Bad people are just bad people, no matter what banner they fly... Once again, thanks for the concern.... W. R. Johnnie Johnson, CLP Exec. Vice President/Chief Operating Officer The International Leasing & Investment Co. P. O. Box 3716, Safat 13038, Kuwait Phone: 965-244-0368 FAX: 965-246-3190 E-Mail: johnson@ilic.net
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