Ian Thewlis's Blog
August 2, 2019
Arabian Night Patrol
Today, August 2, marks the anniversary of Saddam Hussein's sudden invasion of Kuwait in 1990 which led to the 1991 Gulf War. Everyone was shocked and caught by surprise and there was panic throughout the region. Once the tanks and approximately 100,000 Iraqi troops overcame the initial Kuwaiti resistance, the wider threat to the Gulf and world oil supplies became clear. Would Saddam's army drive south down the coastal highway and seize Saudi Arabia's oil rich Eastern Province? The Arab world was confused and divided but would the US and UK intervene to help a key ally and secure oil supplies.
My novel, Arabian Night Patrol, describes the impact of war on a diverse cast of Western and Arab characters living on a Saudi oil camp - a British engineer, a young Islamist, a Saudi detective, an American security boss and his artist wife. 'The Middle East is a snake pit,' says the security boss. 'We can't be Boy Scouts in this war.'
My novel, Arabian Night Patrol, describes the impact of war on a diverse cast of Western and Arab characters living on a Saudi oil camp - a British engineer, a young Islamist, a Saudi detective, an American security boss and his artist wife. 'The Middle East is a snake pit,' says the security boss. 'We can't be Boy Scouts in this war.'
