By Robert Laurie ——Bio and Archives--September 23, 2014
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“Unlike Mr. Bush in the Iraq war, Mr. Obama has sought to surround the United States with partners.”Obviously, anyone who was paying attention remembers that Bush did, in fact, build a coalition of the willing. Conservatives pounced on the Times' obvious bias but, other than a quiet correction regarding a photo credit, the paper ignored the controversy. At least, they ignored it until today. It seems that, behind the scenes, the Grey Lady was hard at work. After what must have been countless, exhausting, hours of research, the paper has come to the conclusion that their original story got it wrong. Apparently, Bush DID have a coalition! Who knew!?
Who are the coalition members? According to the Bush administration and press reports, they are: Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Palau, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Uganda, and Uzbekistan. Noticeably absent are major powers–France, for example–that were members of the coalition that overturned Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in 1991. … Other countries have not been named publicly but are likely members of the coalition. They include Israel, as well as several Arab states that are providing bases or other assistance to the war: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Egypt. … To what extent have non-American and non-British coalition forces joined the war effort? National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, in an op-ed on Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal, wrote that the Australian Navy is supporting coalition troops and clearing mines, Polish special forces are defending an oil platform, a Danish submarine is patrolling nearby waters, and "Czech and Slovak special chemical- and biological-weapons response forces" are standing by to respond to bio-warfare attacks. In addition, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and the UAE have sent 8,000 troops to Kuwait in a largely symbolic effort to help defend that country. They do not have a combat role. What about other coalition members? Rice wrote that they are providing "supplies, logistical and intelligence support, basing and over-flight rights, and humanitarian and reconstruction aid."Wow. Look at all those countries. That go it alone cowboy really put together one heck of a global consensus, didn't he? Clearly, Hillary Clinton's eloquent endorsement of military action helped. And that reminds us; We're sure the New York Times is aware, but Bush obtained Congressional approval for his actions. We're still waiting for the Obama administration to take such a drastic action...
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