The Precarious Coalition

"Coalition" is a much-bandied word these days. Pentagon briefings, George Bush's speeches, and mainstream media coverage use the word liberally -- conjuring visions of a large band of allies working in unison in the Iraqi desert to oust Saddam Hussein.

To reinforce this impression, the White House supplemented the original list of 30 nations over the weekend. The latest entries, however, were composed mostly of names that were previously withheld as too embarrassing to disclose as allies -- but now serve to pad the list in the smoke of war while the media are looking elsewhere.

But the announcement was at least less cryptic than previous statements on the so-called coalition. Donald Rumsfeld said last Thursday night that the war on Iraq was underway with the "substantial support of Britain and Australia and others." But he did not clarify that the two countries he named are the only ones committing combat troops. Nor did he elaborate on the identities of the mysterious "others."

When Secretary of State Colin Powell announced last week that there were 30 countries in the "coalition of the willing," he also referred to "15 other nations, for one reason or another, who do not wish to be publicly named, but will be supporting the coalition." That's just what you need in time of war -- 15 allies who are so convinced of your cause that they want to hide their faces!

This weekend we learned who some of these mysterious others are: Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Kuwait, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Palau, Panama, Portugal, Rwanda, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Uganda and Bulgaria.

Bulgaria, which stood with the U.S. in the Security Council through thick and thin, had protested vociferously at being left off the original list. Could it have been inadvertently overlooked, even though Washington paid $1.7 billion to buy the pre-Gulf War Iraqi debt to Bulgaria?

Portugal is also an enthusiastic supporter -- so much so that its support was taken for granted. The U.S. forgot to tell its prime minister that the Azores summit was taking place on his territory, and then had to invite him along to make up for the gaffe. They have now remembered to put it on the list.

As for the other shrinking violets, their anonymity probably had less to do with any reservations on their part than with Washington's embarrassment at invoking their less than considerable military powers for the coalition. They are mostly the same countries that were weak enough to be bullied into signing bilateral treaties with the United States to exempt it from the International Criminal Court.

To refresh your memory, the original State Department roster of the 30 states included the following: Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Britain and Uzbekistan. And that brings the total number of nations supporting the U.S. up to a grand total of 46.

But even these latest additions do little to promote the administration's claims about international diplomatic support. The list is like the so-called "evidence" Powell presented to the Security Council. Upon closer scrutiny, it collapses like a deflated freedom soufflé.

Let's begin with the small but mighty entrants -- the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau. The three former Pacific Trust territories' entire budget depends on the U.S. Congress, and treaties put their entire defense and a significant say in their foreign policy in the hands of Washington.

The administration does not have much regard for consistency, but it is difficult to question the rights of small countries like Angola or Guinea to vote on the Security Council and then crow about the support of Palau, which is a few square miles in the middle of nowhere that can, at best, lob a few coconuts at Iraq if asked nicely.