Not Your Sweetie

Reuters "US Exaggerates Relative Size of Iraq Alliance":



U.S. leaders say they are proud of the alliance they have assembled against
Iraq (news - web
sites), even in comparison with the broad alliance the United States
assembled for the war to drive
Iraqi forces out of Kuwait in 1991.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a news conference on Thursday:
"The coalition in this
activity is larger than the coalition that existed during the Gulf War (news -
web sites) in 1991."

But the facts put out by the administration itself suggest otherwise.

In 1991 at least 33 countries sent forces to the campaign against Iraq and
16 of those provided
combat ground forces, including a large number of Arab countries.

In 2003 the only fighting forces are from the United States, Britain and
Australia. Ten other
countries are known to have offered small numbers of noncombat forces,
mostly either medical
teams and specialists in decontamination, making a comparable alliance of
about 13 countries.