Every once in a while sirens blare, so Roy MacBeath leaves his work area in Kuwait City, grabs his gas mask and heads downstairs to the basement of his oil company’s office building.

After repeated sirens prompted three retreats to the basement in a three-hour period on the first day of the war, MacBeath’s office closed for four days.

“I spent Day 2 of the war, Friday, golfing and hosting a barbecue on our balcony overlooking the pool,” said MacBeath, who has been living in Kuwait since October of 2001.

As rumors fly faster than the Scud and other missiles that have landed harmlessly in Kuwait, and many Canadians flee the region, the Calgary engineer is determined to stay.

“In spite of all the complications right now, I would rather be here or some other international location than in Calgary,” said MacBeath, 51, in an e-mail.

“I love what I’m doing and I am doing what I love. I am not going to let some bloody terrorist or some jingoistic president control what I do with my life.”

But the conflict between the United States-led coalition and Saddam Hussein’s government has still forced changes in MacBeath’s life.

On Feb. 10, his wife Susan and their two youngest children, aged eight and 15, returned to Calgary because the children’s American-operated school closed amid fears of a military strike against Kuwait. (Their two adult-age children did not move to Kuwait with them.)

MacBeath, lonely and counting the days until his family can return, criticizes the U.S. president’s decision to attack Iraq after giving Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein 48 hours to flee the country.

“I listened to President George Bush’s speech live,” said MacBeath. “I think the 48-hour ultimatum given to President Saddam Hussein was too short. Firstly, President Hussein did not have a reasonable amount of time to consider his options and, secondly, it did not leave enough time for people in Kuwait to get out in a reasonable and organized fashion,” he said.

“I am glad that Canada has stayed on the sidelines, and can’t help but notice the Mexicans did, too,” said MacBeath. “As a Canadian, American imperialism makes me nervous. I think the war was unnecessary and that inspections were working. The vast majority of the people I know have similar views. I believe, however, that Iraq will be better off without President Hussein.”

After the U.S.-led coalition attacked “a target of opportunity” that was believed to contain Hussein and other Iraqi leaders, Iraq started firing missiles at Kuwait City and oilfields.

“We do not believe that any of them had the range to get to Kuwait City, but everyone is being careful,” said MacBeath, who asked that his employer, an oil and gas exploration and production company, not be identified. “The ex-patriates’ biggest fear is an individual attack by a fanatic. I still believe the biggest danger in Kuwait is the Kuwaiti drivers.”

Before war broke out, MacBeath booked a March 29 flight back to Calgary – but he “almost certainly” will not use the ticket.

“I have purchased it only to cover the event where the Iraqis make a fight of it and actually have some chemical or biological weapons,” said MacBeath. “Very few people believe they have such weapons, but no one wants to bet their life on it. If a really bad situation developed, I would probably evacuate south through Saudi Arabia. The ticket is just another form of insurance.”

MacBeath said he does not want to leave because he is involved in business opportunities that require “urgent” attention.

James Cummings, a Calgary lawyer who returned home from Kuwait in December because he feared for the safety of his wife and their infant son, said he is glad he is not in Kuwait now. But he also said the current danger has been overstated. “You’ve got so much protection in that country,” he said.

Cummings said a mass exodus of ex-pats would leave Kuwait’s government-run oil industry in crisis, because the country depends on ex-pats for their knowledge, experience and expertise.

MacBeath said that if the situation turns into “hell in a handbasket,” he will drive south to Dubai and – “hopefully” – play golf for a few days.

“They have a grass course there,” said MacBeath, who has to play on sand courses in Kuwait.

Meanwhile, as other ex-pats head home or to safer locations, MacBeath proceeds cautiously, varying his routine and keeping a low profile.

Although he blames the media for blowing the dangers out of proportion, he carries his gas mask, which is effective for six hours, wherever he goes. He can screw in an oxygen cartridge and put it on in less than five seconds.

His apartment has a safe room that can be sealed if necessary, but he doesn’t see the need to – because, he says, he knows how difficult it is to use a chemical or biological weapon effectively.

In what he describes as his most disturbing experience in almost 23 years of working overseas, MacBeath said Kuwaiti people turned their backs on him one morning when he went to buy coffee in a shop that he visits daily. But the “palpable” tension eased when the shop’s owner asked MacBeath if he would like his usual “Canadian coffee.”

He said Kuwait is “totally different” from the two other most dangerous countries in which he has worked, Yemen and Algeria, during times of conflict. “Here, you don’t actually feel that much at risk from either the enemy (the Iraqis) or the fifth column (the fanatics),” said MacBeath.

In Yemen and Algeria, he said, there was “a constant tension in the air” because people disliked their government, Americans in particular and westerners in general. But people were friendly once they learned he was Canadian.

“That is what made my experience in the coffee shop so surprising. It had never happened to me before, and it has never happened to me since. I am not sure how much danger I was actually in, but I feel my worst-case scenario was wearing somebody’s breakfast.”

He attributed the situation to “latent anti-Americanism.” “The root cause is not Iraq,” said MacBeath. “Rather, it is the perceived unfair stance the United States has taken in the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

Cummings said the real danger in Kuwait cannot yet be determined.

“I think the real safety concerns will come out after the war is over and we see how much collateral damage there is in Iraq,” said Cummings.