Posted on 09/28/2004 9:20:08 AM PDT by wcdukenfield
September 28, 2004, 11:10 a.m. Comparing Coalitions So, the U.S. coalition in Iraq is insignificant? Well, let's compare it to the U.S.-led U.N. coalition during the peak of the Korean War.
Korean War (peak troop numbers, by country, excluding Republic of Korea forces):
United States: 348,000 Great Britain: 14,198 Canada: 6,146 Turkey: 5,455 Australia: 2,282 Philippines: 1,496 New Zealand: 1,389 Thailand: 1,294 Ethiopia: 1,271 Greece: 1,263 France: 1,119 Colombia: 1,068 Belgium/Luxembourg: 944 South Africa: 826 Netherlands: 819
Total: 16 nations; 387,570 combat troops
Iraq War (troop numbers, by country, as of July 2004, excluding Iraqi forces):
United States: 126,500 Great Britain: 8,300 Italy: 3,120 Poland: 2,400 Ukraine: 1,650 Netherlands: 1,400 Australia: 850 Romania: 800 Japan: 600 South Korea: 600 Denmark: 520 Bulgaria: 485 Thailand: 450 El Salvador: 380 Hungary: 300 Singapore: 200 Norway: 155 Azerbaijan: 150 Georgia: 150 Mongolia: 140 Latvia: 120 Portugal: 110 Czech Republic: 110 Lithuania: 105 Slovakia: 105 Albania: 70 New Zealand: 60 Tonga: 45 Estonia: 40 Kazakhstan: 30 Macedonia: 30 Moldova: 10
Total: 32 nations; 149,985 combat troops
In terms of overall troop level, the Iraq war is a much smaller war than the Korean War. Yet the number of nations in the Iraq war coalition currently doubles the Korean War coalition. Moreover, the United States was by far the largest contributor of military personnel in the Korean War, even though that was a U.N.-led coalition. And Poland, the Ukraine, and the Netherlands each contribute more military personnel to the Iraq War coalition than France contributed to the Korean War.
The Korean War was fought with minimal support from France, no support from the then-Federal Republic of Germany, and against the Russian-backed Communist regime in North Korea.
The fact is that President Bush has built a real and impressive coalition in Iraq.
? Mark R. Levin is president of Landmark Legal Foundation and talk-radio host on WABC 770 AM in New York.
I don't know that Korea is really the model I'd use for much of anything, considering the fact that we're still technically at war, and the fact that we're potentially on the brink of a nuclear war with them.
We only had 7 allies at the end of WWII.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.