Allied Contributions in Support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm

GAO discussed the status of allied contributions to support Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and the use of such contributions to defray U.S. costs. GAO noted that: (1) the European Commission (EC) and 49 countries contributed support for the Persian Gulf crisis; (2) during the Persian Gulf crisis, 36 countries sent ground, air, or naval forces or support units to the region; (3) allies pledged about $54 billion and contributed about $44.5 billion, including $39.1 billion in cash and $5.4 billion in in-kind support; (4) as of July 31, 1991, the Department of Defense (DOD) had received an additional $1.6 billion in cash and contributions totalling about $46.1 billion; (5) Japanese and Korean pledges to support the operations were reduced due to a misunderstanding between governments; (6) of the $7.9 billion in future receipts, DOD expects to receive about $7.7 billion in cash, including $4.1 billion from Saudi Arabia, $3.5 billion from Kuwait, and up to $129 million from Japan; (7) in addition to cash and in-kind support to the United States, EC and 24 countries pledged about $16.1 billion in economic assistance to Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, and other countries affected by the economic embargo against Iraq; and (8) allied contributions will be used to defray U.S. costs of maintaining military forces in the Persian Gulf, related costs, and incremental costs. GAO believes that: (1) allied cash contributions should be sufficient to finance U.S. funding requirements to pay for the incremental costs of the war; and (2) U.S. taxpayers' funds would not be needed.