KUWAIT CITY - U.S. military authorities are investigating the theft of $650,000 cash from a U.S. military base in Kuwait. <br>
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The Army says the money was stolen between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning from a U.S. Army building at Camp Doha, 10 miles west of Kuwait City. The building is used by ARCENT, an Army unit headquartered at Fort McPherson, Georgia. <br>
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ARCENT is assigned to support the U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for 25 countries in East Africa and southwest Asia. It has a detachment in Kuwait to support infantry units that train in the desert near the Iraqi border. <br>
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A statement from the Army says the cash is kept to pay non-American civilian workers who provide most of the labor at the base. No arrests have been made. <br>
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In 1991, Kuwait was liberated from a seven-month Iraqi occupation by a U.S.-led coalition, and the emirate depends on Washington for protection. Infantry brigades, assigned to Central Command, are routinely rotated through Kuwait for training. <br>
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As U-S. forces pour into the emirate, Kuwait could become a launch pad for any war on Iraq. Tens of thousands of troops have already arrived or are en route to Kuwait.
