18 March 2003
Boucher Announces Coalition for Disarmament of Iraq
(Countries to offer military, post-conflict support) (1930) Thirty countries have agreed to be part of the coalition for the immediate disarmament of Iraq, and several more countries are offering other forms of military and post-conflict support, said State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher. Briefing reporters at the State Department in Washington March 18, 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 -- people that are associating themselves in public with the effort to make sure that Iraq is disarmed and disarmed soon." Boucher listed the countries in alphabetical order: 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, Boucher said. 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 units like, for example, nuclear, biological and chemical specialists to be available for defense of areas if the Iraqi regime should use chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons," Boucher said. Boucher 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, so this is a -- I got to say this is a changing list and changing numbers." Boucher noted that still more countries are offering to provide access, basing, and overflight rights, as well as post-conflict peacekeeping and reconstruction. Following is an excerpt containing Boucher's March 18 remarks on the coalition for disarming Iraq: (begin excerpt) MR. BOUCHER: Okay. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. All right. I don't have any statements or announcements. I'd be glad to take your questions. QUESTION: Can you, in any way you can, describe the functions of the 30 countries listed as part of the coalition? The first question, of course, would be, are more than a handful contributing troops? And -- well, let's begin with that. MR. BOUCHER: There are 30 countries who have agreed to be part of the coalition for the immediate disarmament of Iraq. I'd have to say these are countries that we have gone to and said, "Do you want to be listed?" and they have said, "Yes." I'll read them to you alphabetically, so that we get the definitive list out on the record. They are: 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. Some of these countries, I suppose all these countries have talked in public about what they're doing. In addition to these countries, there are actually another 15 or so that we know of, probably more than 15, that are cooperating with us in -- and the coalition, or perhaps offering defensive assets in the event that Saddam resorts to the use of 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 units like, for example, nuclear, biological and chemical specialists to be available for defense of areas if the Iraqi regime should use chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. There are other countries who may be providing access, basing, or overflight rights. Still others have committed themselves to post-conflict peacekeeping and reconstruction. And you have some -- for example, Japan was very clearly not in the former category, but in the latter. I think all these countries, one way or the other, and some others, have talked about what they're doing. QUESTION: Well, in the list -- excuse me. But there's a footnote next to Japan specifying that their cooperation or support is postwar. MR. BOUCHER: I think this has got to be the list, the way I just discussed it, but -- QUESTION: No, no, no. I hear you, but -- MR. BOUCHER: Yes. QUESTION: -- what we -- I understand that Japan is postwar. MR. BOUCHER: Yes. QUESTION: Let me put it that way. Are there others among the 30 who are simply part of a postwar reconstruction effort? MR. BOUCHER: Many of these people are associated somehow militarily with the action. I think most, almost all is probably a better description. Some of them, like Japan, are probably exclusively interested in the post-conflict situation and helping out if we get to that, but I think most of these others, if you look at what they, themselves, have said, are in some ways willing or participating in, or supporting potential conflict, if that's where it ends up. QUESTION: Richard, the -- MR. BOUCHER: And I would have to say some of the other 15 who have not listed themselves a 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, so this is a -- I got to say this is a changing list and changing numbers. QUESTION: Okay. So I think that might answer my question. Are you saying that your coalition of the willing and coalition of the unwilling to be named is expandable, you're still out there recruiting? MR. BOUCHER: Yes, it is. QUESTION: Okay. MR. BOUCHER: There are people who may want to be named in the future, and there are, I am sure, people who will be participating in other things if we have to go forward. QUESTION: And two, I know you don't want to get into specifics of what each country would offer, but at least two countries on this list kind of jump out at me in terms of their abilities to do anything, and that would be Afghanistan and Ethiopia. I understand that Afghanistan might be overflight rights, but what kind of thing would -- and not to denigrate the Ethiopians, but what kind of thing would you -- QUESTION: Eritrea. QUESTION: -- Eritrea -- what kind of things are these countries which, you know, do not have great amounts of resources and are not really -- MR. BOUCHER: They may not be deploying. They may not be providing a specific resource, or they may just be allowing access, overflight, or other participation in that way, or they may just have decided they want to be publicly associated with the effort to disarm Iraq. Remember, that is the fundamental of this, that 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 -- people that are associating themselves in public with the effort to make sure that Iraq is disarmed and disarmed soon. QUESTION: In terms of the size of this coalition, compared with others that you've created, to do with international goals, how big is this? I've heard it's the third largest assembly? MR. BOUCHER: I don't quite want to do that yet, because of the question that Barry asked, because I want to make sure before I start saying. I think the generally held number for the Persian Gulf War was 31.* But I do, I want to check that. I am not sure that we have the same standards or inclusion. This is a list of countries, 30 countries, that want to be publicly associated with the idea that Iraq needs to be disarmed now. They are all participating, contributing in some way, or interested in participating in some way. I suspect the numbers don't quite compare yet, and so I'm going to be very careful about not making that comparison yet. QUESTION: Richard, the standard -- it's a very diverse, eclectic list, and obviously the standard for inclusion is very low. Does this mean that -- well, agreeing to be listed -- MR. BOUCHER: I would point out -- QUESTION: Does that mean -- MR. BOUCHER: -- it is probably higher than the standard for inclusion in the room here. But anyway -- QUESTION: Ooh. (Laughter.) QUESTION: Did -- I assume that you asked everybody in the world whether they were willing to go on this list, and therefore you had 160 rejections, were there? MR. BOUCHER: No. QUESTION: How many did you ask, then? MR. BOUCHER: We asked a number of countries that we knew were involved or potentially involved. I don't have the exact number, but I think the fact that you have this many countries that want to stand up and associate themselves with the effort at this point and that, as you know, there are others who are taking steps and doing real things to contribute to the effort to disarm Iraq is significant. QUESTION: If any country in the world said, "We want to be listed," you would not turn them down for any reason? MR. BOUCHER: I suppose we would at least -- we would want to see that there was something on their part that merited inclusion, and I think all these countries have something that merits inclusion. QUESTION: Let's get it straight. You said some of them only -- were only listed because they wanted to be associated publicly with this. MR. BOUCHER: And had an intention -- were either involved or had an intention of participating in the future. QUESTION: That's not what you said, really. QUESTION: But you have no other country -- MR. BOUCHER: I think I said those things, yes. QUESTION: -- no other country -- MR. BOUCHER: Let's slow down. QUESTION: One big question and one small one. Have France, Germany, Russia, or China offered things like overflight rights for US military aircraft? And secondly -- MR. BOUCHER: That is a question you would have to ask them. As I have set the precedent before, I continue it today, not talking about others, contributions by others, unless I am absolutely sure they, themselves, have talked about it; so you would have to ask them first. QUESTION: And secondly, what happens with diplomacy now? Are we beginning to draft resolutions to go back to the Security Council to ask for help with humanitarian aid in post-conflict Iraq, stabilization forces, a UN mandate to -- for food distribution, for a host of things? MR. BOUCHER: It is a very good question. If I can -- it is a big question, and I want to answer it fully, so if I can, I am going to answer his question, and then I will come back to this. He was going to say -- QUESTION: So no -- MR. BOUCHER: -- what about the Arab countries? QUESTION: -- no Arab country volunteered to be on the list? MR. BOUCHER: At this point, I think the Arab countries have explained their steps at this point in perhaps slightly different ways. I'll leave it to them -- QUESTION: What do you mean? QUESTION: They don't want to be named? MR. BOUCHER: I'll leave it to them to explain exactly what their position is. (end excerpt) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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