Making a Dent in Liberal Disinformation: The United States Acted Unilaterally
by Lester Dent
Thursday, August 05, 2004
Four-point series ''Making a Dent in Liberal Disinformation''
Talking Point 2: The United States Acted ''Unilaterally''
Setting aside the blatant re-definition of ''unilateral'' from ''done or undertaken by one person or party'' to ''doing something without the approval of France, Germany, Russia, or China,'' let’s put the war in Iraq into historical context.
The non-partisan GlobalSecurity.org site lists the following as current forces in Iraq or immediate surrounds:
''Coalition of the Willing'' in Iraq:
Country Total
United Kingdom 11,000
Italy 2,700
Poland 2,400
Ukraine 1,700
Netherlands ~1,400
Australia 850
South Korea ~600
Romania 700
Japan 1,100
Bulgaria ~485
Denmark 496
Thailand 451
El Salvador 380(?)
Hungary 300
Singapore 33
Mongolia 180
Azerbaijan 151
Norway 10
Latvia 122
Portugal 128
Lithuania 105
Slovakia 105
Czech Republic 80
Albania 70
Georgia 159
New Zealand 60
Estonia 55
Kazakhstan 29
Macedonia 28
Moldova 24
Tonga ~45
TOTAL ~26,800
The same site puts U.S. forces at 140,000. Add 'em up, and you have the U.S. forces comprising 84% of the troops.
Now, let’s compare this with another war, one that was approved and conducted under U.N. auspices: Korea.
At the time of the cessation of hostilities, the following forces were in Korea:
United States 302,483
United Kingdom 14,198
Canada 6,146
Turkey 5,453
Australia 2,282
Philippines 1,496
New Zealand 1,385
Ethiopia 1,271
Greece 1,263
Thailand 1,204
France 1,119
Columbia 1,068
Belgium 900
South Africa 826
The Netherlands 819
Luxembourg 44
korean-war.com
How does this break down? The United States was providing 88% of the troops in the Korean War, with 15 other countries making up the rest (setting aside the South Koreans). In Iraq, the U.S. forces comprise 84% of the troops, along with 31 other countries.
In Korea, the US suffered 95% of the fatalities in the United Nations contingent. In Iraq, the U.S. forces have suffered 94% of the fatalities. (http://icasualties.org/oif/.)
The numbers indicate that, without United Nations approval, the United States has more allied countries and more troop support than we had with United Nations approval in Korea. Yet I have never read criticism of the United States for acting unilaterally in Korea.
Like Iraq, Germany and the Soviet Union did not provide troops in Korea. China did provide troops… but they fought against the United Nations forces. |
