Top US military officer Admiral Mike Mullen in Kuwait to celebrate liberation
Friday, February 25, 2011
Mullen in Kuwait to celebrate liberation
Kuwait, Top US military officer Admiral Mike Mullen arrived in Kuwait on Friday to join celebrations marking 20 years since the country's liberation from Saddam Hussein's forces.
Iraq invaded the tiny oil-rich emirate in August 1990 and was liberated the following February by an international coalition led by the United States.
A military parade on Saturday will commemorate both the twentieth anniversary of the coalition victory and 50 years since Kuwait gained independence from Britain in 1961.
Mullen landed in Kuwait after a five-day Gulf tour during which he visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Djibouti and Bahrain.
The Gulf is of strategic importance to Washington, whose military is engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, and which sees Iran as a potential threat.
The United States keeps a permanent military presence in Bahrain where the US Navy's Fifth Fleet is based, and from where it patrols the Gulf to protect shipping lanes vital to the global oil trade.
Mullen's tour was intended to reassure Washington's allies in the region of continued US support at a time when many Arab regimes are being shaken by popular uprisings.
A member of Mullen's entourage, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were in Kuwait to celebrate the country's independence, first from Britain and then from Iraq.
He added that although there were prospects for a form of democracy in Kuwait, the aim of the 1991 Gulf War was not to democratise Kuwait, where the Al-Sabah dynasty has reigned for more than 250 years, but to eject Saddam Hussein's forces.
http://en.news.maktoob.com/20090000598724/Mullen_in_Kuwait_to_celebrate_liberation/Article.htm
Iraq invaded the tiny oil-rich emirate in August 1990 and was liberated the following February by an international coalition led by the United States.
A military parade on Saturday will commemorate both the twentieth anniversary of the coalition victory and 50 years since Kuwait gained independence from Britain in 1961.
Mullen landed in Kuwait after a five-day Gulf tour during which he visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Djibouti and Bahrain.
The Gulf is of strategic importance to Washington, whose military is engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, and which sees Iran as a potential threat.
The United States keeps a permanent military presence in Bahrain where the US Navy's Fifth Fleet is based, and from where it patrols the Gulf to protect shipping lanes vital to the global oil trade.
Mullen's tour was intended to reassure Washington's allies in the region of continued US support at a time when many Arab regimes are being shaken by popular uprisings.
A member of Mullen's entourage, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were in Kuwait to celebrate the country's independence, first from Britain and then from Iraq.
He added that although there were prospects for a form of democracy in Kuwait, the aim of the 1991 Gulf War was not to democratise Kuwait, where the Al-Sabah dynasty has reigned for more than 250 years, but to eject Saddam Hussein's forces.
http://en.news.maktoob.com/20090000598724/Mullen_in_Kuwait_to_celebrate_liberation/Article.htm
