Sasson - Yasmeenas Choice: A True Story of War, Rape, Courage and Survival

Other Books by Jean Sasson

The Rape of Kuwait: The True Story of Iraqi Atrocities against a Civilian Population

Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia

Princess Sultanas Daughters ( UK Title: Daughters of Arabia)

Princess Sultanas Circle ( UK Title: Desert Royal)

Esters Child (to be re-released 2014)

Mayada, Daughter of Iraq: One womans Survival Under Saddam Hussein

Love in a Torn Land: The True Story of a Freedom Fighters Escape From Iraqi Vengeance

Growing up Bin Laden: Osamas Wife and Child Take Us Inside Their Secret World

For the Love of a Son: One Afghan Womans Quest For Her Stolen Child

American Chick in Saudi Arabia (e-book installment of forthcoming full book)

Return to Kuwait: March 13, 1991

Kuwait and Kuwaitis absorb my thoughts as I sit quietly on the Freedom Flight, the first Kuwaiti government official trip into the newly freed country of Kuwait. Im one of the 146 guests making this journey at the invitation of the Kuwaiti government.

Seven months have passed since August 2, 1990 when the Iraqi army burst upon the Kuwaitis, occupying and annexing the small Kuwaiti nation in a matter of hours. Its been six months since I traveled to London, Cairo, Riyadh and Taif so that I could interview people caught in Kuwait on that hot August day, a fateful day that transformed the momentum of the entire region. Those personal interviews were the basis for The Rape of Kuwait, a book I had written on the experiences of Kuwaitis and others caught in Kuwait on the first day of the invasion. When it was published in January 1991, the book became an instant best-seller, reaching #2 on the New York Times bestseller list.

While Rape revealed the stories of Kuwaitis who survived the invasion to seek safety and sanctuary in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and England, my concentration now centers on the people who remained in Kuwait during the 208-day occupation. I have been thinking about them for a long time. From media reports and personal accounts, Ive come to understand that during the occupation the Iraqi army wreaked massive misery upon the Kuwaiti civilian populace, including robbery, rape, physical torture and murder. Reports verify that the country was left in ruin, with devastated infrastructure and purposefully lit oil wells.

Now Im on my way to discover for myself the result of the occupation. My plans include seeing the condition of the country, as well as meeting personally with freedom fighters and ordinary citizens who can reveal their individual accounts of what it was like to live under a ruthless occupier.

The flight time passes slowly but finally I depart from the Freedom Flight and travel by bus into Kuwait City.

War and loss are upon me from the first moment I enter the ravaged country. Everywhere I look and everyone I meet show evidence of the recent destruction by the Iraqi military. Wrecked and burned military trucks and tanks litter the roadway. I gaze upon the charred remnants of what was once a lovely home likely filled with a happy family. Such carefree days ended months before. Blazing oil fires curl and darken against a dusky sky that hides any hint of blue. I shiver from the chilly air, realizing for the first time that burning oil fires generate a miserable damp coldness rather than sweltering heat. Every living thing in Kuwait has suffered. Birds and beasts whose feathers and fur are thick with oil struggle uselessly. Those bewildered birds can no longer fly while other miserable beasts slump with hanging heads.

Later that evening, when I check into a hotel, I quietly observe the trashed interior, wondering at the splintered doors that once provided hotel guests privacy. Those doors no longer serve their intended purpose and I must pile suitcases in the open doorway of my room for the sake of my personal security.

Two days later I conduct my first interviews. Furrowed faces of grieving parents whose freedom fighting sons were tortured before their eyes quietly express their grief. I tremble at the sight of the sad children who have lost a parent as they stand mute, desperate for someone, anyone, to erase their anguish of loss. Each has its history, carrying me with them to the terrifying days of dread and horror that they have seen, that they have felt, and that they have lived.

A few weeks into my visit to Kuwait, the Kuwaiti government leads me to a story more horrific than most, a secret story deliberately kept away from the worlds media, a story centered around innocent women, and a story that settled with enormous weight upon my own heart.

And I am now about to tell that story to you.