Why did it take such a massive Coalition to fight Iraq in the Gulf War?

by JohnMiltonJamesJoyce

The countries in active combat were

  • Kuwait
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Saudi Arabia
  • France
  • Italy
  • Canada
  • Egypt
  • Syria
  • Morocco
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Oman
  • Qatar
  • Bangladesh Kuwait
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Saudi Arabia
  • France
  • Italy
  • Canada
  • Egypt
  • Syria
  • Morocco
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Oman
  • Qatar
  • Bangladesh

And non-combat support was

  •  Afghanistan
    
  •  Argentina
    
  •  Australia
    
  •  Bahrain
    
  •  Belgium
    
  •  China
    
  • Czechoslovakia
    
  •  Denmark[2]
    
  •  Spain
    
  •  Germany
    
  •  India
    
  •  Pakistan
    
  •  Netherlands
    
  •  New Zealand
    
  •  Niger
    
  •  Norway
    
  •  Poland
    
  •  Portugal
    
  •  Greece
    
  •  Hungary
    
  •  Senegal
    
  •  South Korea
    

Was the Iraqi military that big? I know they had a bunch of reserves, but this seems like way too many.

pasttense

The vast majority of these countries provided negligible support. The listing of all these countries was instead a political statement.

WildeWeasel

The United States first sought support from the United Nations before going into Iraq. Other countries in the UN opposing Iraq's invasion joined in either with combat or non-combat support.