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<text id=90TT3065>
<title>
Nov. 19, 1990: The Big Bill
</title>
<history>
TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1990
Nov. 19, 1990 The Untouchables
</history>
<article>
<source>Time Magazine</source>
<hdr>
WORLD, Page 51
The Big Bill
</hdr>
<body>
<p> The world's encirclement of Saddam Hussein is intended to
throttle his economy and force his army out of Kuwait, but the
price is heavy for the alliance arrayed against him. Mustering
its defensive force in Saudi Arabia in August and September cost
the U.S. $2.5 billion. The Pentagon's estimate for the
continuing buildup to an offensive force had been $15 billion in
fiscal 1991; the escalation announced last week will clearly
boost that bill. If a shooting war begins, some Washington
analysts speculate costs could rise to $1 billion a day.
</p>
<p> "We are more than willing to bear our fair share of the
burden," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jock Covey said in
Washington last week, "but we also expect others to bear
theirs." Since mid-September, when Secretary of State James
Baker and Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady circled the globe
raising funds, 54 countries have made pledges totaling $20
billion, which will be divided between military support and
economic assistance to states in the region.
</p>
<p> Not surprisingly, the biggest contributors are Saudi Arabia
at $8 billion, which includes transportation, water and fuel for
the troops poised there, and Kuwait at $4 billion. Under
pressure from the U.S., Japan doubled its pledge to $4 billion,
while Germany and the European Community have each provided $2
billion. In Rome last week, the 24-nation Gulf Crisis Financial
Coordination Group agreed to provide $13 billion in aid to
nations that have suffered the worst financial damage from trade
sanctions on Iraq.
</p>
<p> Each month the U.S. intends to use $1 billion of the total
$20 billion in contributions to help support its military
operations in the region. With $13 billion of that earmarked for
economic aid, and with the size of the U.S. force growing
significantly, a shortfall will develop if the confrontation
continues for many months. If that happens, Baker says he will
go back for more.
</p>
<p> It might not be so easy. Washington had to twist arms in
Tokyo and Bonn the first time around, and would encounter strong
resistance if it asked for more. Even some of the smaller allies
are not chipping in eagerly. Washington asked South Korea,
itself once a victim of aggression from the north, to contribute
$450 million. Seoul stalled until it was warned that the U.S.
Congress would remember that the next time it considered funding
for U.S. troops based in South Korea. The Koreans then came up
with some money--half of what Washington had requested.
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>