A coalition of weakness
By Erik Leaver and Sara Johnson

(Posted with permission from Foreign Policy in Focus)

As US officials look for political cover after losing the drive for a second United Nations Security Council resolution, the recently renamed "Coalition to Disarm Iraq" is the George W Bush administration's only opportunity to salvage a semblance of international legitimacy for war. A closer look at the countries involved reveals that claims to multilateral action in the name of democracy are grossly exaggerated. In reality, the United States is isolated internationally, and a few of the countries signing on to "liberate" Iraq have human-rights records that rival Saddam Hussein's.

On March 18, the US State Department released a list of 30 countries willing to be named as part of the coalition, while President Bush raised the count to 35 in his speech on March 19 and this list was raised to 45 by March 21. While the list keeps growing in number, it has not increased the fighting strength of the coalition - only two countries have committed forces in any number: Britain (40,000) and Australia (2,000). The Czech Republic and Bulgaria have sent chemical and biological defense units of about 150 personnel each. Poland and Romania also have sent a handful of troops.

Furthermore, the coalition has not added any diplomatic strength to the mission. These 45 countries make up less than 20 percent of the world's population and do not make up the moral equivalent of the United Nations. Despite joining the coalition, the level of support for the US in many of these countries is extremely weak - in only two countries in the world, the US and Israel, is popular support greater than 50 percent. Support is no greater in the global multilateral institutions. Only three members of the United Nations Security Council and slightly more than one-half of all North Atlantic Treaty Organization members support the US mission.

Finally, the coalition brings little economic strength to the effort. The first Gulf War cost roughly US$60 billion of which the coalition members paid almost the entire costs of the war. No nation to date has offered any sort of economic assistance to the US to pay for the escalating costs estimated between $100 billion and $200 billion.

It is also unclear how one becomes a member of the coalition. Some countries were apparently drafted. According to the Washington Post, officials of at least one of these countries, Colombia, were apparently unaware that they had been designated as a coalition partner. It is not known how many other governments first learned of their membership in the coalition through the media. Other support is lukewarm at best. For example, a spokesman for the Eritrean Foreign Ministry said to Agence France-Presse, "We are not having any kind of involvement."

The lack of democratic credentials in the coalition is also startling. Human rights, democracy, and corruption ratings by Freedom House, Transparency International, and the US State Department illustrate the disconnect between pro-democracy rhetoric and the undemocratic reality of some of the coalition partners. Seventeen of the countries were measured to have "not free" or "partially free" democracies; 24 were found to have significant levels of corruption; and the US State Department concluded that in nine nations, "The overall human-rights situation remained extremely poor."

Before the American public starts applauding the administration's newfound commitment to assembling an international coalition to attack Iraq, it should put the partners' participation in perspective. The coalition that Bush claims has more relevance than the UN is not a large group of democratic allies providing substantial military support and backed by public opinion at home. To the contrary, the assembled coalition is evidence of the international community's opposition to war and the administration's lack of commitment to democracy and human rights.

Erik Leaver (erik@ips-dc.org) is an associate at Foreign Policy in Focus and Sara Johnson is a researcher at the Institute for Policy Studies.

Country1	Freedom House Rating 2001-20022	Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 20023	Quotes from State Department Human Rights Report Issued in March 20024
Afghanistan5	Not Free (7,7)	Not rated	The overall human rights situation remained extremely poor.
Albania	Partly Free (3,4)	2.5	The government's human rights record was poor in many areas; however, there were some improvements ... Police beat and otherwise abused suspects, detainees, and prisoners ... Prison conditions remained poor.
Australia	Free (1,1)	8.6	The government generally respects the human rights of its citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing with individual instances of abuse.
Azerbaijan	Partly Free (6,5)	2.0	The government's human rights record remained poor ... Some prison inmates and detainees died in part due to mistreatment by the authorities. Police tortured and beat persons in custody and used excessive force to extract confessions. Arbitrary arrest and detention [were] a problem.
Bulgaria	Free (1,3)	4.0	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however ... its human rights record was poor in other areas. Members of the security forces were responsible for some killings. Security forces commonly beat suspects and inmates and beat and mistreated minorities. Arbitrary arrest and detention were problems.
Colombia	Partly Free (4,4)	3.6	Government's human rights record remained poor ... governmentsecurity forces continued to commit serious abuses, including extrajudicial killings.
Costa Rica	Free (1,1)	4.5	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing with individual instances of abuse.
Czech Republic	Free (1,2)	3.7	The government generally respects the human rights of its citizens; however, problems remained in some areas. Occasional police violence and use of excessive force remained a problem.
Denmark	Free (1,1)	9.5	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing with instances of individual abuse.
Dominican Republic	Free (1,1)	3.5	The government's human rights record was poor ... Police committed extrajudicial killings. At times members of the security forces committed abuses with the tacit acquiescence of the civil authorities. Police arbitrarily arrested and detained suspects and suspects' relatives.
El Salvador	Free (2,3)	3.4	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens. There were no politically motivated killings or disappearances; however, some police officers committed killings. Police officers kidnapped persons for profit ... used excessive force and mistreated detainees.
Eritrea	Not Free (7,6)	Not rated	The government's poor human rights record worsened, and it committed serious abuses ... Many observers believe that the police occasionally resorted to torture and physical beatings of prisoners, particularly during interrogations.
Estonia	Free (1,2)	5.6	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens and the large ethnic Russian non-citizen community; however, problems remained in some areas. Police continued to mistreat prisoners and detainees and use excessive force.
Ethiopia	Partly Free (5,5)	3.5	The government's human rights record remained poor; although there were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained. Security forces committed a number of extrajudicial killings.
Georgia	Partly Free (4,4)	2.4	The government's human rights record remained poor and worsened in several areas. Security forces continued to torture, beat, and otherwise abuse detainees.
Honduras	Partly Free (3,3)	2.7	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, serious problems remained. Members of the security forces committed some extrajudicial killings. Well-organized private and vigilante security forces are alleged to have committed a number of arbitrary and summary executions. Security force personnel beat and otherwise abused detainees and other persons.
Hungary	Free (1,2)	4.9	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were serious problems in some areas. Police continued to use excessive force, beat, and harassed suspects.
Iceland	Free (1,1)	9.4	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing with individual instances of abuse.
Italy	Free (1,2)	5.2	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, and the law and the judiciary provide effective means of dealing with instances of individual abuse; however, there were problems in some areas. There were some reports of police abuse of detainees, and use of excessive force against ethnic minorities and demonstrators.
Japan	Free (1,2)	7.1	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. There continued to be some credible reports that police and prison officials physically and psychologically abused prisoners and detainees.
Kuwait	Partly Free (4,5)	Not rated	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens in many areas; however, its record was poor in some significant areas. Some police and members of the security forces abused detainees during interrogation. The judiciary is subject to government influence ... The law empowers the government to impose restrictions on freedom of speech and the press.
Latvia	Free (1,2)	3.7	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens and the large resident non-citizen community; however, problems remained in certain areas. Members of the security forces, including the police and other Interior Ministry personnel, sometimes used excessive force and mistreated persons.
Lithuania	Free (1,2)	4.8	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, problems remained in some areas. Police at times beat or otherwise physically mistreated detainees and misused detention laws.
Macedonia	Partly Free (4,4)	Not rated	The government's human rights record significantly worsened during the year in the context of the ethnic Albanian insurgency led by the Natonal Liberation Army ... Police committed extrajudicial killings and killed civilians during combat operations.
Marshall Islands	Free (1,1)	Not rated	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, and the law and the judiciary provide effective means of dealing with individual instances of abuse.
Micronesia	Free (1,2)	Not rated	The government generally respects the human rights of its citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing with individual instances of abuse.
Mongolia	Free (2,3)	Not rated	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, problems remain in some areas. Members of the police at times beat prisoners and detainees. Arbitrary arrest and detention are problems, as is corruption. There are restrictions on due process for persons arrested or suspected of crimes.
Netherlands	Free (1,1)	9.0	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, and the law and judiciary provided effective means of dealing with individual instances of abuse.
Nicaragua	Partly Free (3,3)	2.5	The government generally respected many of its citizens' human rights; however, serious problems remained in some areas. Members of the security forces committed 15 reported extrajudicial killings at year's end. Police continued to beat and otherwise abuse detainees. There were allegations of torture by the authorities.
Panama	Free (1,2)	3.0	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there continued to be serious problems in several areas. Abuse by prison guards is a recurrent problem of the prison system. The judiciary is subject to political manipulation, and the criminal justice system is inefficient and often corrupt.
Palau	Free (1,2)	Not rated	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens.
Philippines	Free (2,3)	2.6	The government generally respected the human rights of citizens; however, there were serious problems in some areas. Members of the security services were responsible for extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture, and arbitrary arrest and detention; there were allegations by human rights groups that these problems worsened as the government sought to intensify its campaign against the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group.
Poland	Free (1,2)	4.0	The government generally respects the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. There were reports that police mistreated persons in refugee camps.
Portugal	Free (1,1)	6.3	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas ... security personnel occasionally beat and otherwise abused detainees and prisoners. Discrimination and violence against Roma, minorities, and immigrants also were problems.
Romania	Free (2,2)	2.6	The government generally respected the rights of its citizens; however, its human rights record was poor in some areas. Police use of excessive force resulted in four deaths. Police officers continued to beat detainees and reportedly used excessive force.
Rwanda	Not Free (7,6)	Not rated	The government's poor human rights record worsened, and the government continued to commit numerous, serious abuses. Citizens do not have the right to change their government. The security forces committed extrajudicial killings ... Security forces beat suspects, and there were some reports of torture. Prison conditions remained life-threatening and prisoners died of starvation and preventable diseases.
Singapore	Partly Free (5,5)	9.3	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were significant problems in some areas. The governmenthas wide powers to limit citizens' rights and to handicap political opposition. There were a few instances of police abuse of detainees. The governmentcontinues to rely on preventive detention to deal with espionage, terrorism, organized crime, and narcotics.
Slovakia	Free (1,2)	3.7	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, and showed improvement in certain areas; however, problems remained in some areas. Police on occasion allegedly beat and abused persons, particularly Roma.
Solomon Islands	Partly Free (4,4)	Not rated	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were serious problems ... Armed conflict led to a serious deterioration in the human rights situation; police and militants from both sides committed numerous human rights abuses, including killings, abductions, torture, rape, forced displacement, looting, and the burning of homes.
South Korea	Free (2,2)	4.5	The government generally respects the human rights of its citizens; however, problems remain in some areas, despite some improvements.
Spain	Free (1,2)	7.1	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. There were reports that at times security forces abused detainees and mistreated foreigners and illegal immigrants.
Turkey	Partly Free (4,5)	3.2	The government generally respected its citizens' human rights in a number of areas; however, its record was poor in some areas, and several serious problems remained. Extrajudicial killings continued, including deaths due to excessive use of force and torture.
Uganda	Partly Free (6,5)	2.1	The government generally respected freedom of speech and of the press; however, there were some instances in which the government infringed on these rights. The government restricted freedom of assembly and association, and the constitutional restrictions on political activity effectively continued to limit these rights.
United Kingdom	Free (1,2)	8.7	The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing with individual instances of abuse; however, there were some problems in a few areas. There continued to be deaths in police custody, although their number declined. Members of the police and military occasionally abused detainees and some other persons.
Uzbekistan	Not Free (7,6)	2.9	The government's human rights record remained very poor and it continued to commit numerous serious abuses ... Security force mistreatment resulted in the deaths of several citizens in custody ... Prison conditions were poor, and pretrial detention can be prolonged.

Notes

1. The 45 countries listed are those identified by the US State Department.
2. Annual Freedom in the World Country Scores 2001-2002 by Freedom House (http://www.freedomhouse.org/). The two numbers listed correspond to political rights and civil liberties, respectively. Both are measured on a one-to-seven scale, with one representing the highest degree and seven the lowest.
3. Corruption Perceptions Index calculated by Transparency International (http://www.transparency.org/) ranges from 10 (highly clean) to 0 (highly corrupt).
4. US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices", (available at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/).
5. Information on Afghanistan is taken from 2001-2002 reports and is not indicative of the current regime 

(Posted with permission from Foreign Policy in Focus)