The fact that 15 of the countries wish to remain anonymous "shows the lack of seriousness and solidity of this coalition, to which only three anglophone countries are contributing ground troops," said Francois Heisbourg, head of the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris.

"The Americans will provide 250,000 men, the British 45,000 and the Australians 2,000," according to Heisbourg, who also serves as an advisor to the French foreign ministry.

"That's nothing compared to the coalition built during the 1991 Gulf war, for which 35,000 Egyptians, 15,000 Syrians, 10,000 Pakistanis and 2,000 Moroccans fought," he said.

Even Spain, a staunch supporter of US President George W. Bush's plans to launch a military strike against Iraq over its alleged weapons of mass destruction, is not planning to send any combat troops to the region.

In support of the military campaign, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said Madrid would send a hospital ship and army units specialized in mine clearance and nuclear decontamination, for a total of about 900 people.

Spain also will put six F-18 bombers, a C-130 Hercules mid-air refueling tanker and a rescue helicopter at NATO's disposal, as part of its commitment to assist NATO member Turkey should it be attacked.

The Netherlands has sent three Patriot missile batteries manned by some 300 Dutch soldiers to Turkey, but only to protect Ankara, according to Bastien Nivet of the Institute for International and Strategic Relations.

"These are just auxiliary shows of support as, besides Britain, the contributions of most of these countries will be nearly non-existent. Even Spain and Italy don't have much to offer," Nivet explained.

With respect to an air war, which is likely to mark the start of the conflict, only Britain has aircraft that are in compliance with US identification norms necessary to participate in fighter jet operations.

Spain's Harrier jets and Dutch F-16s could theoretically participate in ground attack missions, but it is unlikely that the Pentagon would need them to take part, experts noted.

"If the conflict had to drag on, there would be a fresh, urgent need in terms of air transport and refueling jets. But for that as well, only the Americans and the British can respond effectively," said Bernard Bombeau of the specialized French publication Air et Cosmos.

Despite the lack of material support they can provide to the United States, coalition members, notably those in central and eastern Europe, can provide Washington with several strategic advantages, experts say.

Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania are set to open their air bases to US forces, which was not necessarily the case during the 1991 Gulf war.

In addition, Bulgaria has in-depth knowledge of Soviet-era arms sold in the Middle East, Czech army units are trained to deal with chemical weapons attacks and Hungary is allowing US officers to train Iraqi dissidents in civilian liaison work at its Taszar air base.

Guillaume Dasquie, editor-in-chief of the magazine Intelligence Online, noted that Poland has often provided the United States with invaluable intelligence data since the fall of communism, and had good knowledge of Iraq and the surrounding region.

Even the support of impoverished Albania is worthwhile, according to Dasquie, as it could help stem the flow through Tirana of illegal funding to Islamist organizations linked to the al-Qaeda network.

WAR.WIRE