PARIS, March 19: The 45 nations which have backed a US-led invasion of Iraq, except for Britain, will contribute little militarily but can offer Washington strategic advantages in central Europe, analysts said on Wednesday.

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 adviser 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 Bush’s plans to launch a military strike against Iraq, 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 refuelling 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,” Mr 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.—AFP