Look at this fawning obituary of the dead Emir of Kuwait in NYT. It is so untrue that the Emir was loved by Kuwaitis. I will agree that the new Emir, Sa`d Al-`Abdallah, when he was mentally togehter that is, was quite popular among Kuwaitis. Jabir on the other hand, was disliked not only for being very detached, but also for corruption under his wings, and for his incompetence in dealing with Saddam's threats. But notice this last part of the obituary: "Sheik Jaber married many times, and it is unclear exactly how many children he left behind."