Four days after Angola vanished from the US-led ”coalition of the willing” supporting war against Iraq, the African country has reappeared on the White House list of nations publicly supporting the effort.
According to the latest version of the list, available on the official www.whitehouse.gov Internet site since late on Tuesday, Ukraine has also agreed to be named as backing Washington’s push to disarm and topple Saddam Hussein.
The latest additions brought to 48 the total number of nations that have agreed to be named as members of what US President George Bush has called the ”coalition of the willing.”
White House officials declined to explain the return of Angola, which had first appeared on the coalition list on March 20th, only to vanish from its ranks a day later.
They also refused to comment on an official statement from Solomon Islands Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza disassociating his nation — which appears on the list — from the coalition.
”The government is completely unaware of such statements being made, therefore wishes to disassociate itself from the report,” said Kemakeza.
Washington has trumpeted the coalition list in an attempt to drown out stubborn international opposition to the war and erase its failure to win passage of a new UN Security Council resolution backing military action.
Bush’s national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published Wednesday that the group comprises 1,23-billion people from around the world.
”Every instance of support, from every country, no matter how small or large — is helping win this war, and everyone is valued,” she said. – Sapa-AFP