coalition forces or allied forces

[darth vader]

what's the difference and why 'coalition' this time round?

[geofbob]

From the point of view of words, I don't think there is much difference - one of the definitions of "coalition" is an "alliance", the members of which are of course "allies". The primary reason "coalition" is being used by the media in the present conflict is because George W Bush has referred so often to a "coalition of the willing"; he (ie his speech writers) could just as easily have referred to an "alliance of the willing". Possibly, it was thought that "coalition" sounded a little less definite than "alliance", and would permit the US to include in the coalition countries who were sitting on the fence, as well as those which definitely supported the war.

[mikewith]

ned flanders - you seem to have a better grasp of this bit of the war than I do, certainly. Could you give us an indication of which other countries are involved in the coalition's military action, and perhaps the extent of their involvement?

[mikewith]

ned flanders - you called them "odd", not me! But seriously, I don't know which countries are involved, or to what extent. You or anyone else who can give details, please do. I'm minded to believe that "logistical support" means 'cooking, cleaning and generally staying out of the way' and unless corrected that's going to colour my view of the quoteunquote coalition.

[PaulYukochan]

The greatest thing has to be that, if you considered the the opinions of the EU countries, but included ones who are going to join instead of just existing members, then it was pretty much even for the pro/anti war votes. That must haved boded badly in Paris and Berlin