Hi Pakistan March 20, 2003
30 states join coalition to disarm Saddam, says Washington
WASHINGTON: The United States has announced that 30 countries have agreed to be a part of the coalition for the immediate disarmament of Iraq , and several more countries are offering other forms of military and post-conflict support.
Briefing journalists at the State Department on Tuesday evening, spokesman Richard Boucher said: "These are countries who have all stood up and said it is time to disarm Iraq, and if Iraq doesn't do that peacefully, we need to be prepared to do it by whatever means are necessary."
He identified these countries as "nations that are associating themselves in public with the effort to make sure that Iraq is disarmed and disarmed soon."
In South Asia, so far only Afghanistan has joined the coalition. Pakistan, India and Bangladesh have not yet committed themselves to the alliance but US officials say they may soon join.
Diplomatic sources in Washington said President George Bush has been busy building up, what he calls "a coalition of like-minded nations," ever since it became that the UN Security Council is not going to endorse the US-led war on Iraq.
Contrary to the general impression, the sources said, President Bush was not discussing the US move in the United Nations when he was calling world leaders over the last two weeks. Instead, he has been working on his "coalition of like-minded nations," they said.
Listing the countries already in the alliance, Mr Boucher named: Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan.
"Each country is contributing in the ways that it deems the most appropriate" and has talked publicly about its contributions, Mr Boucher said.
Mr Boucher said that in addition to the 30 countries listed, at least 15 more countries are offering defensive assets in the event that Saddam Hussein resorts to using weapons of mass destruction.
"Some of these people are what you might call boots on the ground, in terms of providing military support or deploying defensive military unit
Mr Boucher said these allies had already offered nuclear, biological and chemical specialists to be available for defence of areas if the Iraqi regime should use chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.
He said that the 15 countries that have not been listed as part of the coalition "are in fact participating in defensive measures or other things, but just don't feel they want to be publicly listed at this point."
Indicating that other nations may soon join this coalition, Mr Boucher said: "This is a changing list and changing numbers."
Besides these two groups of 30 and 15 nations, Mr Boucher said, there were still more countries who were "offering to provide access, basing, and overflight rights, as well as post-conflict peacekeeping and reconstruction."
AFP adds: US troops will not wait for a moonless night to launch military action in Iraq, despite the clear advantage their night vision equipment gives them when fighting in complete darkness, according to experts and Pentagon officials.
"Obviously with our night vision capabilities we have a greater advantage in periods of darker nights. It's a factor, like the heat as we get closer to summer ... but we can make adjustments," said Lieutenant-Colonel Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman.
"The advantage in night vision is a reflection of our overwhelming superiority, it's not going to be a show stopper," said Chris Helman, an analyst at the Center for Defence Information.
"The decision to start is not going to be based on the phase of moon", he said, adding that Washington was in a hurry to get rid of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Radar-evading stealth fighters, such as the F-117 and B-2, can easily escape detection by Iraqi anti-aircraft systems and drop smart bombs from high altitude at any time of day or night. But some bombers and helicopters may be detected by eye on a moonlit night.
M1-Abrams tanks are equipped with thermo-imaging systems that enable their crews to see in the dark and attack their enemies from a safe distance.
Infantry troops have a similar advantage with their night-vision goggles, which could be crucial in urban fighting. "To be able to see and target the enemy who is not aware you are here is important; these are extra elements of safety. Especially in the streets of Baghdad" said Francois Boo, a military expert at GlobalSecurity.org.
Fighting at night also enables US troops to avoid the searing daytime heat.
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