WAR.WIRE
US adds Tonga to "coalition of the willing" list
WASHINGTON (AFP) Mar 28, 2003
 The White House has added Tonga, the only monarchy in the Pacific, to the list of nations in the "coalition of the willing" backing US-led war to disarm and topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The addition of Tonga, which sits in the South Pacific roughly two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand, brought to 49 the total number of nations that have agreed to be named as backing the campaign.

The list is available on the White House's official Internet site, www.whitehouse.gov.

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.

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