Kuwait's Cleanup

One year later, the country has been almost completely rebuilt, but the psychological scars will take much longer to heal

Gleaming new Chryslers and Mitsubishis fill the remodeled showroom of Bader al-Mulla and Bros. But upstairs the executive offices are still a charred shambles, torched by fleeing Iraqi troops 11 months ago. Anwar al-Mulla, on holiday in Europe when Iraq invaded Kuwait, returned at war's end to join his brothers in the monumental rebuilding task. Iraqis had seized 3,500 al-Mulla automobiles; the company's losses from fire and theft totaled $230 million. Al-Mulla's house, which served as the headquarters of Saddam Hussein's occupation overseer, was also devastated. His sole consolation: "They left the silverware and took the stainless steel."

These days, the...

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