Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The Congressional Research Service has reported that U.S. aid was improving
the military of Kuwait, the Gulf Cooperation Council sheikdom.

CRS said Kuwait, deemed a major non-NATO ally of the United States, has
expanded its military since the Iraq invasion in 1990. The report said
Washington has been equipping Kuwait to counter any threat from neighboring
Iran.

“Its [Kuwait’s] military has now nearly regained its pre-Iraq invasion strength of 17,000,” the report said.

Over the last three years, Washington sold to Kuwait equipment meant to contain Iran. CRS cited the PAC-3 missile defense system, AIM-120C air-to-air missile as well as anti-tank missiles. Kuwait has not been eligible to acquire U.S. military surplus.

Authored by analyst Kenneth Katzman, the report said the United States has used Kuwait as the key exit route for American troops assigned to withdraw from neighboring Iraq. The report said Kuwait could host U.S. forces meant to respond to any emergency in Iraq after 2011.

The main U.S. staging facility in Kuwait was identified as Camp Arifjan. The report also cited Camp Buehring, which contains a desert firing range as well as serves for the overhaul of equipment shipped from Iraq.

“It is at these locations that equipment from the Iraq battlefield are
being cleaned, repaired, and packed up for return to the United States or
stored in regional prepositioning sites,” the report said.

“Over the past three years, U.S. sales to Kuwait have also comported
with the overall goals of the Gulf Security Dialogue program designed to
contain Iran by enhancing the individual and joint capabilities of the Gulf
states,” the report said.

CRS said the biggest beneficiary was the Kuwait Air Force, which
received U.S.-origin F/A-18 fighter-jets.

“U.S. officials say that the U.S.-Kuwait defense relationship, enhanced
by the small amounts of U.S. assistance, has improved the quality of the
Kuwaiti military, particularly the air force,” CRS, in a report titled
“Kuwait: Security, Reform and U.S. Policy,” said.

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