How Kuwait's Most Famous False Stories Spread
Kuwait’s best-known place in the history of hoaxes comes from one exceptionally consequential episode: the 1990 claim that Iraqi soldiers had removed premature babies from hospital incubators and left them to die.
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Introduction
Other Kuwait-related fakes have been less grave but reveal the same basic machinery. A photograph of sharks beneath flooded escalators became a supposed disaster at Kuwait’s Scientific Center. A false report of a sweeping visa ban travelled from social media into international politics. More recently, fabricated investment advertisements, impersonation sites and artificial-intelligence videos have turned deception into a direct route to financial theft.[snopes.com]snopes.comEscalator Threatened by Collapsed Shark TankThe captions say the shark tank at The Scientific Center in Kuwait collapsed.Read more…
The incubator story that helped sell a war
Iraq invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990. With the country occupied and independent access severely restricted, reports of executions, torture, looting and medical collapse emerged through refugees, officials and resistance networks. Many Iraqi abuses were real and extensively documented. That truthful background made one especially shocking allegation easier to accept: Iraqi troops had supposedly entered Kuwaiti hospitals, removed babies from incubators, stolen the machines and abandoned the infants to die.[Human Rights Watch]hrw.orgHuman Rights Watch
On 10 October, a 15-year-old girl introduced only as Nayirah appeared before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in Washington. Speaking emotionally, she said she had volunteered at a hospital and had seen Iraqi soldiers take babies from incubators. The hearing looked official, although the caucus was not a formal congressional committee and her statement was not subjected to the evidential testing expected in a court. Her account was broadcast widely and became the human face of the allegation.[C-SPAN]c-span.orguser clip nayirahs testimonyUser Clip: Nayirah's testimonyOctober 10,1990, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus met to discuss allegations of injustice placed…
The story spread because it combined several persuasive elements. It involved helpless infants; it was delivered by a visibly distressed young witness; and it appeared to confirm other accounts already circulating. Amnesty International initially credited a version of the incubator allegation, while politicians cited it when arguing that Saddam Hussein’s occupation could not be allowed to stand. In an information vacuum, repetition by humanitarian groups, journalists and officials made the allegation appear independently corroborated even when many reports could be traced to closely connected Kuwaiti sources.[Human Rights Watch]hrw.orgHuman Rights Watch
What the audience was not told was that Nayirah was the daughter of Kuwait’s ambassador to the United States. Her appearance had been facilitated within a campaign conducted for Citizens for a Free Kuwait by Hill & Knowlton, one of the world’s largest public-relations firms. Concealing her family connection did not by itself prove that every word was invented, but it deprived viewers and reporters of information essential to judging her independence and possible motive.[Wikipedia]WikipediaCitizens for a Free KuwaitCitizens for a Free Kuwait
After Kuwait’s liberation, Middle East Watch, now part of Human Rights Watch, interviewed medical staff and examined hospital and cemetery records. It concluded that there was no evidence for the widely repeated story that babies had been removed from incubators and left on the floor. Records behind one apparent cluster of infant burials showed that many deaths had occurred before the invasion or at different hospitals and dates. Amnesty International’s investigators likewise reported finding no reliable evidence for the original allegation.[Human Rights Watch]hrw.orgHuman Rights Watch
The later evidence was not completely tidy. A private investigation commissioned by the Kuwaiti government subsequently reported that at least seven babies had died because Iraqi troops removed them from medical equipment, while many more infant deaths were attributed to the collapse of care during the occupation. That finding did not validate Nayirah’s specific eyewitness account or the earlier claim of scores or hundreds of babies deliberately dumped on hospital floors. It does, however, explain why the safest historical judgement is more precise than simply saying that no infants suffered: Iraqi forces devastated Kuwait’s health system, but the celebrated incubator narrative was promoted with unreliable testimony and claims far beyond what independent investigators could establish.[The Washington Post]washingtonpost.comOpen source on washingtonpost.com.
Why the story was so effective
The incubator episode is often called an atrocity hoax, but it is better understood as a mixture of propaganda, concealment and the distortion of genuine suffering. Its power came partly from the fact that it did not ask audiences to believe something wholly detached from reality. Iraqi troops had invaded a sovereign country, committed grave abuses and stripped hospitals of equipment. The false or unsubstantiated material was inserted into an already credible picture of brutality.[Human Rights Watch]hrw.orgHuman Rights Watch
It also exploited the authority of institutions. The witness appeared in a congressional setting. A human-rights organisation had repeated similar claims. News outlets reported political reactions, which then became further evidence that the story mattered. Each layer borrowed credibility from the others. By the time reporters gained proper access to Kuwaiti hospitals, the image of babies on a cold floor had already become more memorable than any later correction.[Los Angeles Times]latimes.com2 Iraqi invasion told members of CongressLos Angeles TimesWitnesses Tell of Iraqi Atrocities in Kuwait: Congress11 Oct 1990 — Speaking softly in a voice that often broke, an Ame…
The exposure had costs beyond embarrassment. It gave later apologists for Saddam Hussein an opportunity to dismiss authentic evidence of killings, torture and disappearances as propaganda. Middle East Watch explicitly warned that false atrocity accounts could divert attention from violations that were well documented. The episode therefore illustrates a recurring danger of wartime fakery: an invented or exaggerated claim can weaken public trust in true testimony from the same conflict.[Human Rights Watch]hrw.orgHuman Rights Watch
The sharks that never escaped
A much lighter Kuwait-related hoax appeared online in 2012. A dramatic photograph showed sharks apparently swimming at the foot of flooded escalators. Captions claimed that a shark tank had collapsed at the Scientific Center in Kuwait, releasing its occupants into the building. The picture was striking enough to be shared rapidly and plausible enough for people unfamiliar with the site to suspend disbelief.[Snopes]snopes.comEscalator Threatened by Collapsed Shark TankThe captions say the shark tank at The Scientific Center in Kuwait collapsed.Read more…
The supposed Kuwait scene was assembled from unrelated material. The escalators belonged to Toronto’s Union Station, which had flooded after heavy rain. Sharks were digitally inserted into the water, and the altered image was then detached from its Canadian origin and supplied with the Kuwait caption. The creator of the Toronto manipulation acknowledged making it, while fact-checkers traced the changing labels attached to the image.[Toronto Life]torontolife.comToronto Life Flooded Union Station meme passes for a shark tankToronto Life Flooded Union Station meme passes for a shark tank
The hoax is a useful example of “context laundering”. A manipulated picture does not need to remain attached to its first story. Once copied, it can be relabelled as a different city, storm or accident. National Geographic photographer Thomas Peschak has described how one of his real shark photographs was repeatedly inserted into false flood scenes, including the Kuwait aquarium story. The visual component provided apparent proof; the caption supplied whatever local explanation would make it newly shareable.[National Geographic]nationalgeographic.commy shark photo took over the internet inspiring countless fakes and real awarenessmy shark photo took over the internet inspiring countless fakes and real awareness
Unlike the incubator story, the shark photograph had no serious political purpose. It was closer to an internet prank that escaped its original setting. Yet it demonstrates why image searches, location checks and attention to earlier versions are often more useful than scrutinising pixels alone. The decisive question was not whether sharks could survive in shallow water, but where the escalators had actually been photographed.
The visa ban that became politically useful
In early 2017, reports claimed that Kuwait had barred citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, supposedly following the example of US President Donald Trump’s travel restrictions. The claim circulated through online news sites and was praised as “smart” on Trump’s official Facebook page, greatly expanding its audience.[Reuters]reuters.comkuwait denies it imposed travel ban praised by trump id USKBN15K09OKuwait denies it imposed travel ban praised by Trump5 Feb 2017 — The article alleged that "Syrians, Iraqis, Iranians, Pakistanis a…
Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry categorically denied that such a blanket decision had been made. Its statement noted that people from the countries named in the reports lived in Kuwait and continued to travel there. Reuters, Kuwait News Agency and subsequent fact-checking all treated the widely circulated claim as false.[kuna.net.kw]kuna.net.kwArticle Details.aspxArticle Details.aspx
The underlying reality was more complicated than the viral headline. Kuwait had imposed or discussed particular visa restrictions at different times, and Pakistani officials later referred to long-running limitations affecting some categories. That policy complexity helped the false 2017 report survive: a sweeping ban sounded plausible because narrower restrictions and security screening already existed. The hoax simplified a changing administrative system into a politically convenient claim that Kuwait had copied the new American policy.[Dawn]dawn.comKuwait agrees to lift bar on visas for PakistanisKuwait agrees to lift bar on visas for Pakistanis
This case shows how misinformation can be amplified without a central mastermind. One outlet publishes an inadequately checked claim; other sites repeat it; a prominent politician endorses it; and the endorsement itself becomes news. Corrections then face a structural disadvantage because they must explain visa categories and conflicting historical policies, while the original falsehood fits into a single headline.
From viral rumours to engineered fraud
Kuwait’s current deception problem is less about memorable one-off hoaxes than about repeatable impersonation. Banks and regulators warn of messages, websites and advertisements made to resemble trusted institutions. Victims may be told that they have won money, must update an account urgently or can earn exceptional investment returns. The immediate aim is usually to obtain bank details, card numbers, identity information or one-time security codes.[Boursa Kuwait]boursakuwait.com.kwOpen source on com.kw.
Artificial intelligence has made the presentation more convincing. The National Bank of Kuwait has warned about altered video and audio that appear to show familiar public figures endorsing investments or trading platforms. The Central Bank of Kuwait’s fraud-awareness work now explicitly covers fake accounts and websites, fraudulent investment advertising and the use of AI in phishing. These are not folklore-like hoaxes created mainly for amusement: they are commercial deceptions designed to convert borrowed authority into money.[Kuwait Times]kuwaittimes.comKuwait Times NBK warning against scams using deepfake technologyKuwait Times NBK warning against scams using deepfake technology
The methods nevertheless echo the older cases. The incubator testimony borrowed authority from Congress and humanitarian reporting. The shark photograph borrowed authority from the camera. The visa rumour borrowed authority from a believable policy climate and a presidential endorsement. Modern phishing borrows bank logos, official language, familiar faces and synthetic voices. In every case, the false claim becomes persuasive by attaching itself to something the audience already trusts.
What Kuwait’s famous fakes reveal
Kuwait does not possess a large, well-documented tradition of legendary monsters, forged national relics or celebrated newspaper hoaxes comparable with those recorded in some larger countries. The available record is dominated instead by wartime propaganda, globally recycled internet images, policy rumours and financial impersonation. That pattern reflects Kuwait’s position at the intersection of international conflict, migrant communities, fast-moving regional media and highly connected digital networks.
The cases also require different moral judgements. The shark-tank picture was a prankish visual fabrication. The visa report was a false political story produced and amplified through weak verification. Deepfake investment advertisements are calculated fraud. The incubator testimony was more serious still because it involved concealed interests, disputed eyewitness evidence and public persuasion during the approach to war. Treating all four simply as “fake news” would obscure who benefited and what harm followed.
Their common lesson is that plausibility usually matters more than technical sophistication. A story succeeds when it matches existing fear, sympathy or expectation: enemy soldiers harming babies, a dramatic aquarium accident, a government imposing stricter borders, or a trusted institution offering financial opportunity. Exposure begins by separating the emotional claim from its borrowed authority and asking who first supplied the evidence, what independent confirmation existed at the time, and what later records actually showed.
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Endnotes
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Title: user clip nayirahs testimony
Link:https://www.c-span.org/clip/public-affairs-event/user-clip-nayirahs-testimony/4686475
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2.
Source: snopes.com
Title: Escalator Threatened by Collapsed Shark Tank
Link:https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/shark-tank/
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3.
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Title: Nayirah testimony
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Additional References
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