Remarks by Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby at the Dedication Ceremony for the Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial in Washington, D.C. (As Delivered)

Your Excellencies, ministers, Secretary Burgum, ambassadors, distinguished guests, and especially honored veterans, it is a distinct personal honor to join you this morning on this solemn occasion and offer a few words on behalf of Secretary Hegseth and the Department of War. To the veterans of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm gathered today and beyond, we are here to honor you and your families and remember especially those who did not return. Their sacrifice is and will remain part of our national memory and pride. In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. For seven months, the Kuwaiti people endured occupation, destruction, and separation from the life of a free and sovereign nation. We answered Iraq's infringement on U.S. and allied interests with clarity and an appropriate yet decisive application of military force in pursuit of a scoped political goal. America worked with many others to assemble a broad coalition of allies and partners bound by common interest and a shared perception of the values at stake. This coalition acted together with a defined objective and brought together the overwhelming military power needed to achieve that goal. Operation Desert Shield defended Saudi Arabia, deployed and integrated coalition forces, and built the combat power that was required for Operation Desert Storm, which itself applied that overwhelming power through a superbly coordinated air, land, and maritime campaign. Coalition forces gained the initiative, restored Kuwait’s sovereignty, and decisively defeated Iraq's forces. Our victory together was overwhelming, the result of a sound strategy, executed masterfully by a skilled, ready, and courageous force. There is an enduring truth in this victory: military power employed in clear advancement of defined political objectives with willing and capable partners can and will achieve decisive results. This lesson is not confined to history. Peace and stability in the Gulf, the Pacific, in Europe, in our own backyard, is preserved through strength. This is the underlying logic of President Trump's approach of peace through strength. Over the past nine months, Iran's deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure, including in Kuwait, and its persistent efforts to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which U.S. and other forces have resoundingly denied, remind us that neither regional stability nor any nation's sovereign defense can be taken for granted. Over this time, we have again demonstrated the will and power to defend our interests, and we will continue to do so. Yet, it is critical that those with the most at stake must continue to strengthen their own defenses and actively work together to enable their own security and regional stability. The United States will remain an unmatched partner to those countries like Kuwait that heed this call. This memorial, memorably dedicated today, is a necessary, somber reminder of the seriousness with which we all must approach the use of military force. We owe our warfighters the promise that we will wage war judiciously, effectively, and in a way that keeps the costs Americans bear correlated to the level of their interests at stake. Desert Storm is a model of that, and this memorial will remind us of it. In fact, I will probably be able to see it from my office in the Pentagon, and it will be a personal reminder of exactly that.

Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm also demonstrated the extraordinary impact that partnerships rooted in aligned interests can have, and in so doing, forged an enduring bond between the American people and the people of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and our other Gulf partners. Today, we honor that partnership. Let me close by saying to all who served, and especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice or received wounds in this conflict and their families, we honor and we thank you. May this memorial ensure that future generations remember as well.

Thank you very much.