31 August New York Times commentary - The High Price of Friendship by Patricia Weitsman.

According to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the United States has engaged in more multinational operations since the end of the cold war than it did in the preceding 90 years. Relying on one’s partners to fight wars makes sense. After all, it is better to fight with your friends at your side than alone, right?

Wrong.

When waged for the wrong reasons, coalition warfare is more costly and less effective than fighting alone. Coalition warfare requires a high degree of joint planning, consultation and cooperation. The presumption is that this loss of autonomy is more than compensated by having coalition partners provide additional troops on the ground and share the burden of fighting.

Are these in fact the reasons the United States has been using coalition warfare to prosecute wars in the contemporary era? Not exactly. Rather, the United States has used its partners to garner legitimacy for its foreign policy objectives...

This partnership has come at a price. At President Bush’s request, in May 2005 Congress created a $200 million Coalition Solidarity Fund that supports coalition partners in Afghanistan and Iraq. For example, Estonia received $2.5 million in Coalition Solidarity Fund money to support its troops — about 40 in Iraq and 80 in Afghanistan. Albania, with its 120 or so troops in Iraq and 35 or so in Afghanistan, received $6 million, as did the Czech Republic, which has roughly 100 troops in Iraq and 60 in Afghanistan. (The Czechs are expected to withdraw their troops from Iraq by the end of the year while sending approximately 100 new troops to Afghanistan.)

Last year, the United States paid to airlift Poland’s 2,400 troops to Iraq, built their camps and provided equipment. Poland also received $57 million in solidarity funds, although this has not stopped it from drawing down its troops in Iraq. (While Poland recently added 50 troops to its force of 100 in Afghanistan, it may completely withdraw its military from Iraq in 2007.) Mongolia’s contribution of roughly 180 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan earned the country its first presidential visit and a possible free trade agreement...

Once the United States — and its remaining coalition partners — emerge from Iraq, we would do well to re-examine our growing reliance on coalition warfare and develop benchmarks to help us determine whether building a coalition makes sense...