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Kuwait
Kuwait
Background
From 1899 until 1961, Kuwait remained, in effect, a British protectorate.
A succession of amirs of the Al Sabah ruled the country, but the
handling of its foreign affairs was a British prerogative, and
Britain guaranteed the security of the amirate. Kuwaiti forces
consisted of the amir's royal guard plus a small domestic police
force or constabulary under the British administration. During
the 1920s and 1930s, British protection became particularly important
in deterring Saudi encroachment and later in blocking Iraqi territorial
claims. By independence on June 19, 1961, the British had converted
the 600-man constabulary into a combined arms brigade of 2,500
men trained by a British military mission. Small air and naval
forces were also established in 1961 under British tutelage.
With its small size and enormous oil wealth, Kuwait occupies
an uneasy position at the head of the gulf. One of its powerful
neighbors, Iran, only forty kilometers away, had proclaimed its
aim of exporting its Islamic revolution; the other powerful neighbor,
Iraq, had repeatedly challenged Kuwait's legitimacy (see Territorial
Disputes , this ch.). Fearful of the radical leadership in Iran,
Kuwait aided Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War by permitting the transshipment
of goods across its territory and by loans of about US$6 billion.
Kuwait responded to terrorist bombings and other violence inspired
by Iran by intensifying its military cooperation with the GCC
and by building up its own forces. Although formally neutral and
reluctant to become involved with the great powers except as a
last resort, Kuwait turned to the United States, the Soviet Union,
and Britain for naval protection of its tanker fleet after twenty-one
ships were attacked in the gulf in the six months preceding April
1987.
Iraq's surprise attack and occupation of Kuwait caused the virtual
disintegration of the Kuwaiti armed forces. Large numbers of personnel
were killed, captured, or dispersed, and most Kuwaiti equipment
was destroyed or taken over by the Iraqi armed forces. The minister
of defense said that 90 percent of military installations had
suffered major damage. By early 1992, most army barracks were
again usable, and the naval base was in operation but needed rebuilding.
The air force flew temporarily from the civilian airport near
the city of Kuwait while the air bases were being reconstructed
in 1992. Kuwait expected to spend about US$9 billion--six times
the prewar defense budget--in 1992 to replace destroyed equipment
and installations.
In a sharp departure from previous policy, Kuwait entered into
a ten-year defense cooperation agreement with the United States
in September 1991. The agreement included United States port access,
military equipment storage, and joint training and exercises.
The agreement did not provide for the stationing of United States
service personnel in Kuwait; 1,500 personnel remaining after the
gulf war were scheduled to leave within a few months. Similar
but less extensive ten-year cooperation agreements were subsequently
concluded with Britain and France.
Data as of January 1993
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