IT IS true that the ongoing events in Iraq are considered an internal issue related to demanding better living standards after 15 years of suffering caused by perverse attitude toward reality.Nonetheless, it will not hurt to be cautious. In fact, the highest alert level is necessary, because today’s Iraq is different from the one during the reign of Saddam Hussein who planned to invade Kuwait while preaching calm and reassurance in the Arab world.This reached a point where former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and the late Jordanian King Hussein bin Talal affirmed over and over again that there is no Iraqi intent to conduct military operations against our country; yet it happened.We do not doubt the current Iraqi government’s position to support Kuwait, but this government that waged war against the ‘ISIL’ for four years is currently going through a political crisis.It is as if the Iraqis are being punished for the position they took on the parties affiliated to Iran. In addition, Qassem Suleimani still has power to command sectarian militias in a bid to compensate for losses incurred by Iran. These losses were caused by those who bragged about having control over four Arab capitals. Currently, each of these capitals is exiting from their influence one by one, and the most important of these capitals is Baghdad.Therefore, we should not settle by saying that the ongoing events in our neighbor’s backyard are considered an internal issue which does not call for caution and alertness, or regard the threats made by some parties against Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as just a summer cloud.The international situation in 1990 was completely different from the current situation. Agendas have been mixed up, threatening the survival of several nations in our region which is being remapped by blood and displacement.This means any dramatic development in our borders can transform into a disaster if we depend on the conviction that those starving in Iraq will not be used by the hostile tool of evil. Irrespective of changes in colors and titles, the core remains the same – the Persian expansionism scheme.Bravo to the political leadership for announcing full support for the Iraqi government and the intention to contribute to the distillation of its water, as well as the announcement of Saudi Arabia to compensate for electricity shortage caused by Iran’s move to cut off power supply.Despite all these, it does not hurt to set up a strategy to deal with emergencies — God forbid. The enemy is cornered and it is striving to spit its venom in whatever way possible.In 1990, our northern neighbor had a single snake — Saddam’s regime; but today, there are a variety of snakes so it has become difficult to distinguish them. All of them hang around the axis of those who conspire against Kuwait and other GCC countries.These snakes are the likes of ‘ISIS’, ‘Popular Mobilization Forces’, and remnants of the Ba’ath regime that appear to have started catching their breath after the dramatic changes in previous years.All of these should make us cautious of any ‘traction rope’ as described in the adage: “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”By Ahmed Al-JarallahEditor-in-Chief, the Arab Times