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Encouraged by a gracious invitation that was extended to me by my dear colleague Madi Al-Khamis, who also happens to be an active media person, to attend the "Kuwait-Iraq Media Forum: Towards positive media relations between the two countries," I literally pounced on the opportunity, accepted it wholeheartedly and immediately began to prepare myself for the forum in earnest. The initiative that was spread over a period of two days, witnessed several debates and discussions between the media persons of both countries. Most of the issues that were discussed were aimed at strengthening the bonds of friendship and further consolidating the cultural and economic aspects existing between the two countries that had deteriorated drastically over the past several years. Once there, I had this distinct feeling that the atmosphere for discussions was cordial and that was definitely a positive sign; bearing in mind the fact that the main aim of the forum was to exert sincere attempts to influence public opinion in both countries in order to support and promulgate the various aspects of mutual cooperation at all levels. On the opening day, an entire session was devoted towards discussing the positive role that the media is expected to play in further strengthening the positive and constructive relations between the two countries wherein participants from both Kuwait and Iraq were accorded the opportunity of expressing their points of view objectively and with full transparency. The Iraqi media persons expressed their views by highlighting how the Kuwaiti media persons go about criticizing the Iraqi government and the people while the Kuwaiti media persons reciprocated their own sentiments over how the Iraqi media persons too go about criticizing the Kuwaiti leadership and its citizens. However, what really impressed me was the stark reality with which both parties unanimously admitted that the more citizens try to distance themselves from politics, the stronger the relations between the two peoples will be. They also emphasized on a crucial point which is; governments of both countries should focus more on the commercial and economic aspects existing between them as citizens from both countries would surely stand to benefit from an atmosphere of reconciliation that will be achieved from those aspects. Participants from both countries then cited several examples of how trade between the countries flourished in the wake of Saddam's downfall and the subsequent liberation of the Iraqi people from the clutches of their dictatorial leader. All participants were also unanimous over the urgent need to overcome and resolve the various dilemmas and outstanding issues existing between the two countries in attempts to put the past behind them and embark on a relationship that is mutual, honest and downright sincere. It was also commendable that all participants agreed that their contributions over the years had been modest in scale and unanimously pledged to overcome several major hurdles in their quest to bring about an atmosphere of peace that can only be achieved through reconciliation from both sides. They also agreed to work hard towards analyzing and softening their usual stance in attempts to promulgate an atmosphere of peace and understanding. They also agreed that since it is pretty obvious that the state-owned media means are far more moderate and realistic than the private media, extreme care and caution should be exercised whenever either or both media means overstep their boundaries and resort to sensationalism. While it is common knowledge that private media means in both countries are controlled by owners of satellite television channels, newspapers, certain religious or political parties, they should never be encouraged to resort to inciting the readers under any circumstances. I'd also like to mention here that while there are more than 15 newspapers and satellite channels in Kuwait, Iraq, on the other hand, boasts more than 100 satellite channels and tens of newspapers that are owned by the government and political parties. I am fully aware of the fact that it will indeed be an arduous and gigantic task to request the media in both countries to commit themselves to neutrality and objectivity. I say the task is arduous (bearing in mind the underlying fact that we are listed among Third World countries where religious, sectarian and tribal influence is powerful) but it definitely not impossible. And since the task is not impossible, we must exert exemplary efforts towards realizing any of those efforts that we exert towards building a society that is free, open and transparent in all its dealings. People in countries across the developed world have proved, time and again, that a free press and conscientious media persons have brought about a sense of reconciliation even during disastrous times and explosive turn of events. On the other hand, the problem with the media in most underdeveloped countries lies in the fact that freedoms are, to some extent, restricted. However, the reality of the situation in most underdeveloped countries in the Arab world (even those that have a democratic system of governance) is that they use freedom as a tool to exploit religion and sectarianism and promulgate national extremism. To cite a case in point, let's take our own country Kuwait as an example. The freedom of the press in Kuwait has actually encouraged members of all those political and Islamic movements like Salafis (who are anti-Shiite) to create their own personal analyses of Iraq just because Iraq's rulers are affiliated to religious parties who are predominately Shiite. On the other hand, freedom of press in Iraq has actually encouraged supporters of Saddam Hussein (mainly the Baathists and supporters of Iran's Shiite political parties) to vent their anger and unleash their pent up frustrations on Kuwait. What we really need at this particular point of time in both countries is to forget the past, set our differences aside and work towards building a brighter future from a very novel and unbiased perspective altogether; one that takes into account the cultural, commercial, economic, and other interests of citizens of both countries. The need of the hour is to cooperate with Iraq in all fields and maintain a sincere intention to improve our economic, social and other related interests. Members of the media are part of an intricate and closely knit system that actually encourages and helps people to unite and live in peace and harmony. This can only be achieved through reconciliation and once that reconciliation is consolidated, nothing or no one can shatter it no matter how hard they try or no matter whatever lengths they go to.
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