Edward W Jr Gnehm

More than 30 years ago, a high school teacher in southern Georgia suggested that Edward W. Gnehm Jr. consider going into the Foreign Service. At the time, Gnehm later conceded: "I had no idea what the Foreign Service was." On Thursday, in front of a crowd of Cabinet members and ranking U.S. officials packed into the State Department's cavernous eighth-floor ballroom, Gnehm was formally sworn in to what has become the most challenging job in the U.S. diplomatic corps--ambassador to Kuwait.

The coalition that liberated Kuwait now expects the emirate to champion justice and fairness and to end human rights abuses, the U.S. ambassador to Kuwait said Saturday. "Clearly, those individuals who broke Kuwaiti laws and were parties to Iraqi criminal actions should be prosecuted fairly and fully under the law," said Ambassador Edward W. (Skip) Gnehm Jr. "But the innocent should not become new victims."

U.S. Ambassador Edward W. (Skip) Gnehm Jr. presented his credentials to Kuwait's emir, Sheik Jabbar al Ahmed al Sabah, and assured him that Americans will stand by the emirate. After the brief ceremony, Gnehm told reporters he told the emir "that just as the President of the United States and the people had stood behind them in times of war and tribulation, we were going to stand beside them in time of peace."

U.S. Ambassador Edward W. (Skip) Gnehm Jr. presented his credentials to Kuwait's emir, Sheik Jabbar al Ahmed al Sabah, and assured him that Americans will stand by the emirate. After the brief ceremony, Gnehm told reporters he told the emir "that just as the President of the United States and the people had stood behind them in times of war and tribulation, we were going to stand beside them in time of peace."

The coalition that liberated Kuwait now expects the emirate to champion justice and fairness and to end human rights abuses, the U.S. ambassador to Kuwait said Saturday. "Clearly, those individuals who broke Kuwaiti laws and were parties to Iraqi criminal actions should be prosecuted fairly and fully under the law," said Ambassador Edward W. (Skip) Gnehm Jr. "But the innocent should not become new victims."

More than 30 years ago, a high school teacher in southern Georgia suggested that Edward W. Gnehm Jr. consider going into the Foreign Service. At the time, Gnehm later conceded: "I had no idea what the Foreign Service was." On Thursday, in front of a crowd of Cabinet members and ranking U.S. officials packed into the State Department's cavernous eighth-floor ballroom, Gnehm was formally sworn in to what has become the most challenging job in the U.S. diplomatic corps--ambassador to Kuwait.