Colin Powell: 45 Nations Back the United States in Supporting Iraq War

NewsPundit.net ^ | 3/19/2003 | Douglas Oliver

[ex-Texan]

Colin Powell: 45 Nations Back the United States in Supporting Iraq War

It was reported this morning that the U.S. has strong backing for war in Iraq. The Sydney Morning Herald went on to detail the nations supporting President Bush's plans to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. (March 19, 2003)

I quote briefly from that report:

* * * US Secretary of State Colin Powell said today that 45 nations backed the United States in the coalition that may soon go to war with Iraq. Thirty of those countries - who have offered troops, overflight rights, logistical support and assistance and Iraqi reconstruction projects - were willing to be named publicly while 15 preferred to remain anonymous at the present.

"Thirty nations have publicly said they can be included," he said in a State Department interview with international news agencies. The 15 others "will be known in due course."

The department later released a list of the countries that it said were included in what it called the "Coalition for the Immediate Disarmament of Iraq."

Those countries include: Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Britain, Bulgaria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey and Uzbekistan. * * *

How Strange. .... From the major American television networks I was given the distinct impression that President George W. Bush was "defying the world." It appears that in the eyes of the talking heads the only nations with a correct view are: France, Germany, China, and Russia. I have yet to see a single report on television about the illegal arms-for-oil trading deals that were made by these countries with Iraq.

Billions and billions in secret financial deals were made in violation of the trade embargo designed to keep Saddam from re-arming. The networks have yelled loudly and long about Enron's secret deals. But they have not said one word about the treachery of the "Axis of Weasels." (See my reports below)

There is a report circulating by E-mail that French diplomats and secret agents have been helping Saddam destroy thousands of pages of documents recently. I wonder what those documents might show to an objective investigator ....

The Pundit: It appears to me that Saddam might be pounding on the table saying he will "fight to the death" at the same time he is planning his escape.

And leaving his Republican Guard to terrorize the Iraqi people. Oh, well .... just par for the course for Saddam.

[kesg]

The Pundit: It appears to me that Saddam might be pounding on the table saying he will "fight to the death" at the same time he is planning his escape.

My working theory as well, but only from the moment he initially denied that he was leaving.

[jlogajan]

I see Bulgaria is on this list. In some newspaper listings, Bulgaria wasn't included. Cavuto asked the Bulgarian diplomat about that and she said as far as she knew Bulgaria was providing support. So this updated list confirms it.

[Tai_Chung]

15 preferred to remain anonymous

Any guesses on the secret 15?

1. Saudi Arabia
2. Jordan
3. Egypt
4. UAE
5. Bahrain
6. Oman
7. Germany
8. Qatar
9. Israel
10. Syria
11. Yemen
12. Pakistan
13. Eritrea
14. Iran
15. Iraq (New government)

[SJSAMPLE]

It all sounds very "unilateral" to me,

[dodger]

I wish the US were making it more clear that all this is a continuation of the 1992 war due to Iraq's violation of hthe Armistice .... they were and remain the 'belligerents' and this is NOT a pre-emptive action.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

BUSH DOCTRINE =

'Bringing DEMOCRACY to the Comman Man everywhere is Everyone's Answer'

AMEN

[Cosmo]

World's largest unilateral coalition bump!!!!

[struwwelpeter]

A friend in Kiev says that Ukrainian president Kuchma is bragging about sending a chem-protective squad.

[HighRoadToChina]

BUMP!!!

[Lijahsbubbe]

Looks to me like Colin Powell was pretty successful.

I may be wrong, but I hope one day history will show how hard he worked for our country. I still think he's a man of integrity.