# Current US Allies 34 to 30? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 12, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-us-allies-34-to-30/268884 "2004-10-12T21:19:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-us-allies-34-to-30/268884/1 "2004-10-12T21:19:00Z")
Bush has said: “We had 34 countries then; we’ve got 30 today.” So I’m looking for a list of US Allies that we currently have and who are the four we lost? ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-us-allies-34-to-30/268884/2 "2004-10-12T21:22:15Z")
(Oops, I realized by saying the “four we lost” that that assumes that we didn’t lose 20 and gain 16. ) ---
**Author:** ![eponymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e0b2c6/32.png) [@eponymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eponymous)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-us-allies-34-to-30/268884/3 "2004-10-12T21:38:01Z")
**stpauler** , Bush statement is in refrence to the number of coalition partners we had for Gulf War I versus the number we have for Gulf War II. 34 then (Gulf War I) versus 30 now (Gulf War II). Plus, there are differences with respect to the number of countries that made up part of the coalition then (Gulf War I) versus now (Gulf War II). In other words, compare the countries involved in Gulf War I and Gulf War II. I suspect that the two lists are very different. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-us-allies-34-to-30/268884/4 "2004-10-12T21:38:27Z")
This question needs more context to make any sense. What exactly is meant by “allies?” We don’t have a big list with one side labeled “friends” and the other “enemies.” France is a member of NATO and certainly an ally, but they did not fight with the US in Iraq. Same with Canada, which enjoys a far closer relationship than France. But Italy, whose relationship has always been good but does not enjoy the special relationships of Canada or the UK, did send troops there. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-us-allies-34-to-30/268884/5 "2004-10-12T21:44:50Z")
Sorry if that was ambiguous. How about this: Which countries was Bush referrring to when he said “We had 34 countries then; we’ve got 30 today.”? (Which countries made up the 34 and which countries made up the 30?) ---
**Author:** ![eponymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e0b2c6/32.png) [@eponymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eponymous)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-us-allies-34-to-30/268884/6 "2004-10-12T22:02:49Z")
Gulf War I Excerpt from [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War): "The United States, especially Secretary of State James Baker, assembled a coalition of forces to join it in opposing Iraq, consisting of soldiers from 34 countries: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Honduras, Italy, Kuwait, Morocco, The Netherlands, Niger, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Korea, Spain, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States itself." Gulf War II Excerpt from [BBC News](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2870487.stm)(scroll down to the bottom): “Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.” I am assuming that minus the Philippines (which have already pulled troops out), the above constitutes the 30 in question. Although the article does list others as well: “Additions: Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Kuwait, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Palau, Portugal, Rwanda, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Uganda.” Not sure in what capacity these countries are supporting the war effort, if they even are. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-us-allies-34-to-30/268884/7 "2004-10-13T14:07:36Z")
It looks like the names of the countries have changed per the state department (I’m thinking that the total of the 32 assumably was 30 when it didn’t include Thailand and the US.) Here’s the US State Department’s [Iraq Weekly Status Report](http://www.export.gov/iraq/pdf/state_wklyrpt_100604.pdf) dated Oct 6, 2004. > [@](#): > > Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea+, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Thailand\*, Tonga, Ukraine, United Kingdom. \*“No forces in country, but deployment scheduled.” - (My notes here.) I wonder why this was referred to as Korea, instead of South Korea which is the proper shorthand name according to the [CIA](http://cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/kn.html). It could just be a mistake I guess.