With Spain, Ukraine and others gone, what remains of the "coalition...

...of the willing"?


Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (center) looks on as the Crown Prince and Commander of the Defense Forces of Bahrain Shaikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa (right) greets Vice President of Iraq Adil Abdul Mahki in the Pentagon on April 22, 2005. DoD photo by R. D. Ward. (Released)


Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz (left) hosts a Pentagon meeting with Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdul Mahki (foreground) on April 22, 2005. Joining Wolfowitz on the U.S. side of the table are Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Peter Flory (center) and DoD Country Director for Iraq Chris Staub (right). DoD photo by R. D. Ward. (Released)

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/031605Z.shtml

Ranks Begin to Thin in Coalition of the Willing
By Richard Beeston
The Times U.K.

Tuesday 15 March 2005

snip>
Nearly two years after the United States led the "coalition of the willing" into Iraq, the alliance of 30 nations that once boasted 25,000 troops serving alongside the dominant American forces is showing signs of unravelling.

In a move that is causing concern to the already over-stretched main contributors, particularly the US, Britain and Australia, key allies, such as the Netherlands, Ukraine and Poland, are ordering their forces to return home.

Under pressure at home, some countries, such as Portugal, withdrew their small contingent this year. Other key coalition partners, such as Italy, with 3,000 troops, face growing public pressure to withdraw their forces.

snip>

How the Numbers Are Adding Up

STAYING: US 150,000 (military personnel); Britain 8,850; South Korea 3,600; Italy 3,000; Australia 900 (up to 1,350 by April); Romania 800, up to 900; Japan 600; Denmark 500; Bulgaria 380; El Salvador 380; Georgia 300, up to 800; Mongolia 180; Azerbaijan 150; Latvia 120; Lithuania 100; Slovakia 100; Czech Republic 90; Albania 70; Estonia 50; Tonga 40; Kazakhstan 30; Macedonia 30; Moldova 25

GOING: Netherlands 1,500; Ukraine (1,650 leaving by October); Poland 1,700 (reducing by half)

GONE: Spain 1,300; Thailand 460; Hungary 300; Honduras 370; Dominican Republic 300; Nicaragua 115; Portugal 127; New Zealand 60; Philippines 50; Norway 10

snip>
more at link

Poland will be out entirely by the end of the year. Bulgaria also decided two weeks ago that it needs those 400 troops for vital defense needs domestically- they're out sometime this summer. Tonga left in December, Moldova is gone or as good as gone.

El Salvador tried to leave when Nicaragua did (a year ago) but got bludgeoned into not withdrawing behind closed doors. The debate in South Korea and Japan is not whether putting troops into Iraq is a good idea; it's what level will not insult Americans into retaliating- and Japanese troops are only permitted to fight defensively, no patrols. Georgia's troops (with Tonga's) form a UN-identified unit. There has been one addition to the 'Coalition'- Armenia sent in 46 men in January.

Some US deputy assistant secretary of state showed up in Estonia two weeks ago and told all the Eastern European countries involved to 'think long and hard' about withdrawing their troop contingents- if not for that, I think we'd be seeing at least ten more "allies" disappearing on short notice. Which is a surprising level of threat for at most a few thousand troops...but obviously the point for the Bush people is to keep the names of their countries on a list, more than anything else. Poland appears to have been the country telling its various neighbors that it was time to get out too, but no one's talking about or admitting that yet. Poland and Ukraine getting out seems also to have been a tribute or gesture to Moscow to compensate for the upset and allay suspicions about excessive American influence in the region after the Ukraine affair aka Orange Revolution- Bush didn't like it, but he evidently had to let the two walk after they made their case. Evident winner by a walk in all these machinations- Poland. (You don't get to screw both Moscow and Washington almost completely out of large, powerful, and selfish interests in Eastern Europe every year.)

Britain's and Italy's governments have been trial ballooning withdrawal with their electorates, where sticking around in Iraq has 20-30% support and 10-15% support respectively. (Spain's was 10% when theirs were withdrawn.) Support for doing so- staying in- is 40-45% in Australia and somewhere between 40% and 60% in the U.S. (it depends on how you phrase the question).

I'd say Italy is the shakiest of the majors, and when it withdraws (within a couple of months) Britain won't be far behind, and that's the sign for everyone else to run for the door.

as of April 22, 2005 in this photo?

I thought he'd resigned the position to become the Head of the World Bank.

I love DU, keeps us on our toes.

These photos and captions are from the DoD news service. I found no related stories.

Apparently, while Wolfowitz has been approved to be the next President of the World Bank, it's not effective until June 1st. The previous president resigned, effective May 31st.

It's only logical that the US would end up all by its lonesome in Iraq. Time for the
Boy Blunder to appeal to his "base" to encourage their children to enlist.

...yeah, right.