After a 20 minute unmoderated caucus with no clear results, the head chair of the HSC stated that “the efficiency of this committee is riDicULouS”, banging his gavel repeatedly on the table to get the attention of the delegates. The delegates of the UK and Iran were excused from committee to complete writing a directive to initiate an invade into Iraq. After a long silence in which no points or motions were raised, the chair got a bluetooth call with an update that “Saddam Hussain was chilling on the beach with American playboys”, while all the countries in the committee sat quietly, unwilling to speak about the matter at hand. Only motion on the floor was raised by Qatar to discuss the specifics of this update, which was immediately shot down by the chairs as well as questions from the US as to where the playboy models originated from. Another question regarding where Saddam Hussain was “holidaying” was followed by a discussion as to whether or not Baghdad was the capital of Iraq.

After the chairs attempted to bribe delegates with mentos to come up with good motions, the delegates started discussing ways to attack Iraq to prevent it from attacking Kuwait any further. The delegate of Iraq was asked to leave committee for the duration of this moderated caucus and after attempting to record the happenings of committee on his phone, the device was briefly confiscated. During this discussion, many delegates such as the delegate of Israel seemed to suddenly either become deaf or fall asleep, unaware of the matters being discussed. Once Kuwait’s policies are questioned by Syria and multiple other countries stated that they also agreed that Iraq should be attacked and stopped. How exactly this would be done, they were all unclear of. They also all seemed to agree on the fact that Iraq should have economic sanctions.

The delegate of Iraq responded to the multiple statements regarding the fact that their country was to be surrounded and attacked with the utmost confidence. “It’s simple math,” he said, when comparing the number of foreign forces to the number awaiting them in the Iraqi capital.

Another update was then introduced stating that Saddam Hussain had been assassinated and his son had taken his place. This was followed by an emphatic speech given Uday Hussain, where he conveyed that he thought his father was “mild”. France, meanwhile, was quite busy in committee. They exploited the naval blockade and traded in military with Iraq and, also had a big part to play in the assassination of Saddam Hussain. On the other hand, they held their placard upside down, were confused when told by the chair that their head of state was, in fact, alive and then swore while turning it the right side up. 

The royal family was kidnapped and the US and UK, instead of helping them and giving in to the demand that their troops leave, went ahead with their invasion into Iraq. This move was particularly controversial as many delegates no longer knew who to trust. The delegates of Venezuela, in particular, stated many times, “We’re just confused”. However, Egypt supported the actions of the US and the UK and got numerous bangs of agreement from the delegates of the US and UK for saying, “If we give in to Iraq today, they will only demand more tomorrow.” France then took center stage and stated that they are the only hope and are the only ones who can take any action as they are the ones who managed to assassinate Saddam Hussain. Iraq believed the directive was  useless and since the US and UK could not protect the royal family, they couldn’t do anything. They had also called out Kuwait for not writing or debating any of the paperwork that was being discussed in committee as the entire crisis was pertaining to their country.

As committee began to come to a close, the delegate of Iran, once more, motioned for entertainment and was met with the response, “only if you swim on the desk” As the delegate refused to do so, even though the whole committee was thumping their tables in agreement, the chair reluctantly resorted to reading out many suggestions on how to assassinate Saddam Hussain, many that included the involvement of the playboy models.

By Nyrika, Kimaya M, Hrishi, and Nayantara

Invasion may be a heavily impactful and problematic event in real life, but at UNiS 2019, the delegates of the HSC have used it as a comical aid to yell at each other.

Committee began today with the usual General Speaker’s List. Delegates stood up and droned about their policies and stances; not a very promising start to discussion of a riveting issue. The delegate of the United Kingdom even seemed to fall asleep in the middle of his speech, faltering for a second too long before continuing. However, the delegate of Iraq brought a spark of excitement to the floor – standing up, he made his way over to the centre of the room and launched into a dramatic monologue, accompanied by animated hand waving and facial expressions. He talked of trying to prevent war, for the good of the Gulf countries, and the repercussions of slant drilling for oil, but most of his words fell upon deaf ears as all the delegates paid attention mainly to his performance.  Kuwait criticized Iraq for making false accusations, and for not repaying such large loans, backed by France, the USA and the UK amongst others. Similarly, Iraq retaliated by calling war inevitable and continuing the use of exaggerated hand actions, as Qatar and the USSR in particular, expressed their support for Iraq.

Regarding loans, Iran suggested Iraq repay the 9 billion Kuwait loaned them before the Iran-Iraq war, in addition to the 40 billion they already owe. Soon enough, France was up, and they definitely got everyone’s attention as the delegates walked to the centre of the room, pointed at Iraq and accused the delegate of climbing up to his ego and jumping down to his IQ, causing the room to erupt with approving bangs on tables. 

Dev Joshi seemed to be one of the few people in committee thoroughly enjoying himself as he threw chits from one delegate to another. . As the chair scratched his back with his gavel, delegates discovered that Saddam Hussain had the Chair’s personal phone number and snapchat streak, and had called him to tell him personally that Iraq had invaded Kuwait. As the lights dimmed and delegates murmured excitedly, a video recording of Hussain was projected on the board. This man looked alarmingly like Dev Joshi, but the update was taken seriously nonetheless. 

Various delegations voiced their views on the issue. Syria agreed to aid Kuwait by sending troops to their country, and Iran passionately encouraged the USA to initiate the Carter Doctrine and step in to help. France’s delegates were overly enthusiastic to speak about the matter and showed the committee a piece of paper which supposedly had coordinates that they were eager to attack if the situation required it, and stated that Iraq was ‘a very bad place’. The delegate of the soviet union put forth one emphatic sentence about how immediate action had to be taken. Against who or what, no one was very sure.All in all, most countries agreed on the fact that Westen countries such as the USA needed to aid Kuwait. 

The delegates had very differing opinions of the temperature of their room, and so, after a formal voting session came to the consensus to raise the temperature by 1.5 degrees celsius. When 

a delegate of France asked for the AC temperature to be lowered, he was told that he was free to unbutton his shirt. While  people seem very well-informed of the AC temperature, they seem completely clueless when it comes to where troops are stationed in Kuwait and basic procedure. The delegate of Iran then stated that the solution for the invasion was to “surround Iraq and STRIKE”. However, when asked to elaborate on what he meant by “strike”, the delegate failed to properly elaborate. 

The chairs seem to be very careful about giving out mentos as it had been a while since one had been unceremoniously chucked at an unsuspecting delegate. However, delegates and chairs are still kept amused by the delegate of US wearing his extremely formal sneakers as he raised his placard upside down and asked the chairs what the topic of the ongoing moderated caucus was. Once the delegate of the US finally found out the matter he was supposed to address, he stated that he would recommend immediate action against Iraq. The mentos famine comes to an end as the delegate of Saudi Arabia states that he will provide land for the attack against Kuwait and lunges to catch the mentos thrown at him by a head chair that has obviously not practiced his throwing. Venezuela then states that they will economically aid Kuwait and the US, but do not have a strong enough army to help the military attack on Kuwait.

The head chair then gets a phone call that Iraq has carpet bombed the Kuwaiti oil fields to establish its power and authority. Kuwait can no longer produce oil for anyone, even itself and 82 civilians were killed. Delegates from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria  react by setting up refugee camps.Kuwait says, “Iraq has disrespected the global economy and the UN… they ruined the main export of the Middle East… violent action should be taken.” However, the delegate of Kuwait was also caught saying ‘no regard for human life as the carpet bombed area is inhabitable’. Delegate of Kuwait, the word you are looking for is “UNinhabitable.” After this, a question/answer session with Iraq commenced and Iraq denied the claim that he had stated he was looking out for the Gulf countries.

Chairs start raising their voices at delegates who seem to be a bit preoccupied with the environmental and humanitarian aspect of the issue. UK questions Iraq as to why they want to continue this aggressive stance when almost the whole world seems to be against it. Iraq blames economic warfare but the UK retaliates by suggesting it was because of all the loans taken by Iraq that they were unable to pay back. A moderated caucus is then held to discuss incentivising Iraq to leave Kuwait. Possible options are now economic sanctions and military actions. Qatar proposes to setting a deadline for Iraq to adhere to. The US, on the other hand, wants to take military action while Iran wants to give Iraq another chance. France, meanwhile, walks up to Iraq and says, ‘I’m asking you nicely to leave’. He continues to say, ’I won’t buy oil from you, will impose trade sanctions because I don’t care about you’ He was then cut off and told to talk sense and not just yell.

By Nayantara, Kimaya M, Hrishi, Nyrika

Both the tension and the stakes are high as Iraq accuses Kuwait of stealing oil through slant-drilling into reserves present in the Rumaila oil field. There appears to be an invasion on the horizon as Iraq makes demands and threatens military action. This seems to be the climax of the underlying animosity between the two nations.

This animosity was first apparent in 1961 when Kuwait became independent. Prior to this, the country existed, up to World War I, as a “Qadha,” a district within the Basra Province. It was an integral part of Iraq under the administrative rule of the Ottoman Empire. The Iraqi government has since been trying to claim Kuwait as their own by claiming historic rights to the country. A small crisis emerged, wherein the Iraqi government threatened to invade Kuwait, but it was averted due to plans by the Arab League to form an international Arab force against Iraqi actions towards Kuwait alongside British military intervention.

However, it is interesting to note, Iraq is in financial debt to Kuwait. Kuwait openly admitted its support of Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war and even loaned the country large sums of money — though, due to Iraq’s impoverishment post the war, the country has not been able to repay the entire debt owed.

It is likely due to this, funnily enough, that Iraq is angered about oil prices. Kuwait is producing more oil than ever and allowing the prices to drop rapidly. It is estimated that for every dollar the price of oil reduces by, Iraq loses a billion dollars. Iraq has claimed that Kuwait is violating their treaty by producing large quantities of oil, but Kuwait does not show any signs of stopping.

In May, the president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein publicly stated that the overproduction of oil by Kuwait (thus lowering the worldwide prices) was a form of economic warfare against Iraq. He appears greatly angered by this and military threat seems to be looming over Kuwait.

The US, however, has not tried to stop Iraq from following this path at any given point in time. Iraq seems to be taking this as a green light to go ahead with what they are planning.

Kuwait, with Iraqi troops close to its borders, does not seem to be making any counterattack. It is possible that they are trying to avoid the conflict entirely, as Iraq has an extremely strong army that will be able to overpower Kuwait’s minuscule defensive forces rather quickly. However, conflict seems imminent with Iraq going on the offensive.

Assuming we’re all fortunate enough, Iraq will be forced to retreat and revoke their accusation, however unlikely that possibility may seem. Until then, we’re all in the dark.