Letter to the Editor: How to Coral an Unruly Coalition* 11/14/03 Ask not what you can do for the afflicted, but what's in it for you - the American Way

I believe America still has a unique opportunity to persuade the hearts and minds of the much debated 30-nation "coalition of the willing". To ask each to dig deeper into death and despair than they already have, or haven't. To conjoin in internecion** with Uncle Sam, and why not. What other rhyme or rationale does one need when America is offering a fair trade of guns and cash in exchange for mercenaries. From a historical standpoint however, these trades have always come back to snakebite those who deal with America. Just ask Osama and Saddam, and the thousands afflicted by America's latest brand of freedom

There are two minor adjustments America can make in order to sway nations on the fringe to follow their war

1. America offered Turkey approximately $15 billion in cash and arms for mercenaries, and the Turkish Parliament agreed. However, when the moment of truth arrived their feet went cold, something silly to do with 98 or 99 percent of the population opposing the war and selling soldiers. Talk about a government not having control of its people, and those selfish peace-mongers probably didn't realize the consequences of their actions. That's $15B US worth of cash and guns down the drain! And it turns out Turkey is not alone - the same or similar statistical figures stretch far and wide across the globe.

With every dilemma there is a solution so why not offer a fraction (or even whole) of what was offered Turkey to a downsized version of the coalition cohort list. Three to be exact! What are: Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Eritrea. Here's why:

Per Capita GDP (per 1 individual) Eritrea $740 Afghanistan a whooping $800 Ethiopia $700

Simple enough: take the average GDP of the three and divide into $5,000,000,000. This equals 6,702,413 new troops. Each new coalition troop would be paid the same amount they earn in a year, and just think, hundreds if not thousands won't live long enough to cash their checks, an instant American rebate! Plus this would mean one more mercenary per / 3.5 Iraqis, which will certainly assist in helping America put them down

2. Cease dubbing the "Coalition" what it's not, it is not willing. Refer to it as what it is: COALITION FOR THE KILLING! Not "willing", after all, willing is so vague and passé. Mercenaries are much more inclined to buy into something pertaining to "killing", dontcha think?

Byron L Rourkacha SF, Bay

** internecion \In`ter*ne"cion\, n. [L. internecio.] Mutual slaughter or destruction; massacre

* Full list of current coalition countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan. >