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U.S. Asks Allies for Contributions to an Iraq War Wed Nov 20, 3:06 PM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo! WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is asking about 50 countries about what they might contribute -- from combat troops to reconstruction aid -- during and after a possible war with Iraq, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. The effort, conducted by U.S. ambassadors, appears designed as much to keep up pressure on Iraq to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors and end its suspected weapons of mass destruction programs as to seek practical help in the event of a war. President Bush (news - web sites) has repeatedly threatened to lead a coalition -- with or without U.N. support -- to disarm Iraq if it fails to cooperate with the U.N. inspectors, who are preparing to resume scouring Iraq for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs after a four-year hiatus. "If conflict were to become necessary, we'd like to know your ideas, your thoughts, on what you might be able to contribute," said one U.S. official describing what the State Department asked U.S. ambassadors to find out. The official, who asked not to be identified, said the U.S. request included "combat forces, logistics, humanitarian aid and rebuilding (Iraq) afterward ." U.S. officials declined to name which nations were being approached, but one said he believed 52 were on the list. The Canadian government said the United States had sounded it out on the issue last week. Another U.S. official said the talks were meant to show that the United States was serious about enforcing the U.N. resolution giving Iraq one last chance to disarm, although he noted Bush has repeatedly said a war would be his last resort. "To get Saddam to respond positively to the resolution you've got to make it very clear that we are very serious about this," said the official. "No one should doubt our seriousness and that's reflected in having these kinds of conversations." - - - - Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk