A section of the Arab media, through its reporters in Washington, has published a story saying the American ambassador to Kuwait Deborah Jones called the National Assembly a “council of cats and dogs” , reports Al-Rai daily, in an article under the headline “Who are the dogs mentioned by the US Ambassador.” This statement was allegedly made during a speech given by her at the Middle East Institution in Washington on Aug 27, 2009 to highlight issues of importance in Kuwait. The Arab Nation magazine, in its September issue, published the statement by the American ambassador that read, “Four Kuwaiti women who have graduated from American universities were elected to parliamentary membership. When they are called the four cats, does it mean the rest of the MPs are dogs?”

The daily contacted the American embassy in Kuwait to confirm the statement, and an official redirected the newspaper to the embassy website where the original text has been published to clear misunderstandings. The original text on the official website — according to Al-Rai — read, “We have witnessed some progress in the new National Assembly elected recently that includes four women who have been educated in the United States, hold academic degrees from American universities and are completely different from each other. In addition, I may most probably enrage my Kuwaiti colleagues by mentioning that many of them have referred to the four women as “cats of the council”. I replied by saying I don’t know if this description implies that the others in the council are dogs.”
This tongue-in-cheek comment was allegedly made when Jones discussed the issue of the dissolution of the National Assembly. The ambassador also said Kuwaitis would not benefit from dissolution as it would contradict all the rules laid down by the constitution of Kuwait.

Arabtimes