Why must Iraqis pay for what Saddam did?

Kuwait, one of the richest countries in the world per capita, is insisting that Iraq continue to pay reparations for Saddam's invasion in 1990.

PS: This article claims "Iraq's majority and now dominant Shi'ite Muslims feel they were just as much victims of Saddam as Kuwait was." I would argue that the Iraqi Shia were victimized much more and for much longer than the Kuwaitis were.

I find it strange that most Kuwaitis, including the Kuwaiti government, are pro-American, yet many Kuwaitis seem to be anti-Iraqi. Consider the Kuwaiti Gitmo detainee who was released in 2005. He was sent back to Kuwait, where a Kuwaiti court acquitted him of terrorism-related charges (or as some say, he "slipped the attention of" Kuwaiti authorities), and so he found his way to Mosul and killed seven Iraqis. By 2007, a total of seven Kuwaitis had blown themselves up in Iraq.

Iraq-Kuwait spat over war payments threatens ties

By Waleed Ibrahim and Eman Goma
Reuters
Wednesday, June 3, 2009

BAGHDAD/KUWAIT (Reuters) - Iraqi and Kuwaiti lawmakers traded accusations on Wednesday over U.N.-imposed reparations Iraq must make to its smaller neighbor, which it invaded in 1990 under former leader Saddam Hussein.

Kuwait insists Iraq remain under United Nations chapter seven rules, meaning Iraq must continue to pay 5 percent of its oil revenues to Kuwait and other claimants in war reparations.

The spat has prompted some Kuwaiti politicians to call for the withdrawal of their ambassador to Baghdad, whose appointment last year was hailed as a breakthrough in hitherto frosty ties between the two countries.

"The Kuwaiti stance is repulsive and reflects a vengeful spirit," said communist Iraqi lawmaker Hameed Mousa, reflecting a widespread view among Iraqi politicians, who say they are mulling sending a delegation to Kuwait to discuss the issue.

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