The Gulf Wars

The Collection / Conflicts

The Gulf Wars

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KUWAIT. Kuwait city. French soldier demining the beach. 1991.

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      Kuwait 1991 The day after its release by a coalition led by the Americans, I discovered a Kuwait littered with debris of the war – corpses of Iraqi soldiers.

      Before withdrawing, the Iraqis torched 600 oil wells, whose immense flames set the horizon ablaze. A dull rage seizes me in the face of this waste: it is not only the capital of the Kuwaitis that is going up in smoke, it is also the natural heritage that we must pass on to our children that is being destroyed. I cannot, however, stop myself from being fascinated by these flames measuring tens of meters tall. Are they the atavism of the Zoroastrians of Iran, worshippers of the purifying fire?

      When the wind turns, thick fumes obscure the sky. It is night in broad daylight – a sign which, according to the Bible, announces the Apocalypse.

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