The U.S. military flew Bahrain's terminally ill prime minister to America for hospital care two months before his death, the State Department acknowledged Friday, underlining the importance of the island kingdom. The care offered to Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa came just after the U.S. military similarly flew Kuwait's late ruling emir to the same Mayo Clinic hospital in Minnesota. Both countries host major U.S. military bases in the region and are considered major non-NATO allies, granting them military and economic privileges with America.