Veterans

Less likely, but still plausible, I suppose, is that now our government doesn't want any reminders of what a colossal fuck-up the blitzkrieg of Iraq was.

I was awarded the Liberation of Kuwait medal by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for my service in the Gulf in 1991. I never even knew there was such a medal, or plans to award it, until about a year after the war, my CO went around to the guys who had been there, handing out the green medal case. Saudi Arabia had limitless funds to design, strike, and distribute the medal. I'm guessing Iraq doesn't. Not after fifteen years of occupation.