The United States and Britain have built a global network of friends and allies for their war against Iraq, especially in the Middle East , Europe and Asia-Pacific.

And none are stauncher allies than Japan and Australia, which have expressed strong support for the US position.

Logistical support

In a firm statement o­n Tuesday, Japanese premier Junichiro Koizumi expressed his government's support for the US-led war against Iraq.

According to Monday's report in the Mainichi Shimbun , Koizumi was quoted as saying that Japan would support US-led attacks o­n Iraq if its president Saddam Hussein fails to leave the country as demanded by US President, George W Bush.

A day earlier, the paper had quoted the Japanese premier as saying more bluntly that "Japan would support a US-led war o­n Iraq without backing of a new United Nations resolution authorizing use of force".

London's Financial Times had also reported o­n Monday that Koizumi clarified that Japan "would not dispatch armed forces to fight in the Middle East" because of the constraints of its pacifist constitution.

According to Financial Times and Japan Times reports the same day, Koizumi cited the consideration of preserving the bilateral Japan-US Security Alliance as the main reason for expressing solidarity.

The bilateral Japan-US Security Alliance is defined by, among others, the 1951 Japan-US Security Treaty and 1997 Review of the Guidelines for US-Japan Defence Co-operation. About 48,000 US troops under the jurisdiction of the US Pacific Command, are stationed in Japan.

The Japanese support is not entirely unexpected. In a Dec 10 interview last year with Melbourne's The Age newspaper, Japan's counter-terrorism ambassador Hiroshi Shigeta said he was "comfortable" with the position expressed by Australian premier John Howard that Australia would resort to a "pre-emptive strike" o­nly as the last resort against terrorism emanating from Southeast Asia.

On Dec 16, the 7,250-tonne Japanese destroyer Kirishima reportedly left the Maritime Self-Defence Force's Yokosuka base in Tokyo for the Indian Ocean, possibly to provide logistical and intelligence support to the Us and its allies in the war against Iraq.

The BBC reported o­n Monday that Japan was prepared to provide post-war financial support for the reconstruction of Iraq. In the 1991 Gulf War, Japan donated US$13 billion to the US-led coalition.

Protecting sea lanes

The US State Department has also publicly named, among 28 other nations, the Philippines and South Korea as members of the 'coalition of the willing'. Both countries have been security allies of the US in the Asia-Pacific region since the end of World War 2.

The Philippines has previously expelled Iraqi diplomats who were alleged by the US to be working covertly as secret agents. Confronting unrest in the Muslim-predominated southern region, the Philippine government has allowed American military advisers to operate in the country.

During the Cold War (1947-1991), the Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Base in the Philippines were the staging posts of US military operations in the Korean Peninsula and Indonchina. The bases were closed in 1992, and parts of the logistical facilities were later moved to Singapore.

Geo-strategically, the Philippines serves to link Japan and South Korea with Australia. It is also situated in a region where vital sea lanes need to be protected for the safe and speedy movements of passengers, goods and troops between east and west.

About 37,000 US troops are stationed in South Korea under the terms and conditions of the US-South Korean security alliance. Like their counterparts in Japan, these US forces are under the command of the US Pacific Command.

However, it is still unclear what type of contribution South Korea and the Philippines will make to the war effort in Iraq, although South Korea could be expected, like Japan, to provide financial and technical assistance to post-war re-construction efforts.

Given current tensions in the Korean Peninsula, it is highly unlikely that South Korea will divert its security and military resources to Iraq.

It is certainly in the national interest of South Korea and, for that matter, Japan to rally behind the US to provide moral, political and diplomatic support.

Australian contributions

The role of Australia has long been made clear by the deployment of about 2,000 of the Australian Defence Forces (ADF) at the very early stage of the crisis.

Howard ( photo ), like Koizumi, has made it clear that Australia-US bilateral security relations are the uppermost consideration. There are fears that, given time, North Korea could develop missiles whose striking range includes Australia.

Australia-US bilateral security relations are defined by the 1951 Anzus Treaty which was originally a trilateral arrangement between Australia, New Zealand and the US.

Australia has been a consistent contributor to Anglo-American security causes and forces ever since World War 1 (1914-1919). During World War 2 (1939-1945), Australian forces fought together with British and Indian troops and Malayan communist guerillas to defend Peninsular Malaya and Singapore.

In 1963-1966, Australia played a major role in the Anglo-American defence of Malaysia against Indonesian aggression.

Despite widespread opposition, the Howard government has officially committed the ADF to a US-led war against Iraq. It has also expelled Iraqi diplomats.

The highly specialised Australian forces are said to be operating in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Jordan under Operation Bastille .

To date, Australia is the third largest contributor to the Anglo-American military build-up in the Gulf. In addition to military personnel, it has contributed warships and warplanes.

Discreet support

Although Singapore and Thailand are not publicly named as members of the US-led coalition, both discreetly support the US position o­n Iraq. Thialand has expelled Iraqi diplomats alleged to be working as secret agents.

Singapore's defence and diplomatic relations with the US are very close although the island state is not an ally. Its Changi Naval Base hosts the Western Logistics Group of the US Pacific Command.

Singapore is also a member of the Five Power Defence Arrangments whose signatories include Malaysia, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Since 2000, it has also been a full participant of the annual and large-scale US-Thai war game code-named Cobra Gold .

Thailand is o­ne of the five official security allies of the US, the others being Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia. Its security relations with the US can be traced back to the 1954 Manila Treaty (South-East Asia Collective Defence Treaty).

Thailand joined the US-led South-East Asia Treaty Organisation in 1955 but after the multilateral institution was disbanded in 1977, it maintained a bilateral alliance with the US. At the height of the Vietnam War, Thailand was the staging post for American military operations in Indochina.

During the invasion and ocupation of Cambodia by the Soviet-backed Vietnam from 1979-1989, Thailand was the frontline state in the defence of Peninsular Malaya, Singapore and Indonesia.

In recent years, the Thai air force has joined its Singaporean and American counterparts for joint training in an annual aviation combat exercise code-named Cope Tiger .

The Philippines, Singapore and Thailand are members of Asean as well as of the Non-Aligned Movement.

It is therefores clear that, o­n the question of Iraq, the US is not as isolated as it appears to be. In the Asia-Pacific region, it has successfully maintained the loyalty of almost all its friends and allies (except Malaysia).

They are strategically widespread enough to preserve regional order and stability, especially when the US is militarily engaged in Iraq.

JAMES WONG WING o­n is chief analyst of Strategic Analysis Malaysia (SAM). Wong is a former member of Parliament (1990-1995) and a former columnist for the Sin Chew Jit Poh Chinese daily (now Sin Chew Daily ). He read political science and economics at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. While in Sin Chew , he and a team of journalists won the top awards of Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) for 1998 and 1999.