-------Original Message------- From: Dan Minette <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> As the leaders of the "contain the US alliance?" The only democracy that I know of that favors attacking Iraq without a new specific Security Council resolution authorizing it explicitly is the US. After we go in, probably without GB, this will be a significant force. Rightly or wrongly, many/most people will consider an unconstrained US as the biggest risk to themselves. ********************************
I don't think that France is going to find too many people in the "contain US alliance." According to recent reports, there are currently 47 nations in the "coalition of the willing", who are providing material support. Unfortunately, I have not seen a listing of these nations anywhere (and I've looked), but it seems that the number may be inflated slightly. Secondly, I think that there is no nation whose official policy is *do not get a second UN Resolution, even if we could.* Thus, the appropriate numbers to consider are "democracies in the current group of 47 that would bail on on the coalition without a second UN resolution." I personally think that the UK will participate even without a second reso, and Blair will hope for vindication from a short, swift, and successful war. I have no doubt that Australia, Spain, the Czech Rep., Japan, Italy, Bulgaria, and Romania (these last two only tokenly materially, but very vigorously diplomatically) will participate without a UN Resolution - and it seems likely that Canada will as well, as I have heard no reports of Canada preparing to withdraw its troops from the Gulf. Meanwhile, I have not been able to find firm reports of the material contributions being provided by other nations, but I have seen no indication Denmark, Norway, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia changing their current pro-war positions without another UN Resolution. I believe that the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Iceland are also pro-war, as they supported the defence of Turkey in NATO, but I haven't found official confirmation of that. Austria and Ireland are officially neutral, but from all reports that I have seen, they are quietly supporting the US war. Additionally, several non-democracies are clearly supporting us. Uzbekistan somehow seems to always be in our camp, for reasons I have never fully discerned. A token Arab contingent has also been assembled to participate in the fighting, including troops from Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Oman, and just this week 1,000 troops from Saudi Arabia. These guys aren't going home without a second UN resolution. JDG - International Opion :), Maru. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
