Coalition of the Unwilling

Coalition of the Unwilling By Carlos T Mock, MD September 15, 2007.

After failing to get consensus with neither NATO nor the UN, the Bush administration briefly used the term "Coalition of the Willing" to refer to the countries who supported, militarily or verbally, the pre-emptied 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation since 2003. The original list prepared in March 2003 included 49 members, only four besides the U.S. contributed troops to the invasion force. Thirty three provided some number of troops to support the occupation after the invasion was complete. At least six members have no military. Four countries participated with troops during the initial invasion (termed the Major Combat Operations phase), which lasted from March 19 to May 1. These were the United States (250,000), United Kingdom (45,000), Australia (2,000), and Poland (194).

The war was deeply unpopular amongst the citizens of all the coalition countries except the United States[4] and at least one, Costa Rica (which has no armed forces), requested in September 2004 to no longer be considered a member.

Today, the Bush administration is isolated. Tony Blair, the Prime minister of the UK—Bush’ poodle—was forced to resign for its participation. The British have already left Iraq. Recently Japan and South Korean troops promised to leave Iraq after kidnappings of their citizens. Finally, John Howard, Australia’s Prime Ministers has called an end to his political career.

To quote the Boston Glob: “The Bush administration made a virtual religion of the belief that if you act boldly, others will follow in your wake. That certainly proved to be the case with Karl Rove, for a time. But for all the fascination with what Rove was doing and thinking, little attention was given to whether it was working and why. This neglect encompasses many people, though one person with far greater consequences than all the others. In the end, the verdict on George W. Bush may be as simple as this: He never questioned the big, booming voice of Oz, so he never saw the little man behind the curtain.”