UK: No longer willing

For years, I've been documenting the collapse of the "coalition of the willing" in Iraq. Soon, Britain will no longer have troops in Iraq. The BBC reports:

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has indicated that almost all British troops should leave Iraq by the middle of next year, with a few hundred possibly remaining to train Iraqi security forces.

Previously it had been suggested that troops could start leaving in January.

However, the BBC has learned that the process is likely to begin in March - six years after the US-led invasion.

Of course, Britain's withdrawal is different from earlier defections in the coalition. Conditions on the ground in Iraq are apparently much-improved and the UK is mulling over the diversion of its troops to Afghanistan. Thus, the UK can claim "mission accomplished" and demonstrate its willingness to help the US in the war on terror.

Note also that in 2007 PM Gordon Brown announced the withdrawal of half of British troops.


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Australia: no longer willing

By a landslide, Australia elected a new PM last week and he was sworn in today.

Kevin Rudd's first official act was to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Perhaps I'll say more about that some other time.

By mid-year 2008, Rudd promises to withdraw all of Australia's 550 combat troops from Iraq. Australia has 1500 total troops in Iraq. Some of the other troops will stay to protect the Aussie embassy.

This announced exodus follows Britain's announced draw down made by Gordon Brown in October. Click along the link trail and you can read about the slowly disappearing coalition of the willing.

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Coalition: less and less willing

October 9, William Kole of AP reported about the continued unraveling of the "coalition of the willing" in Iraq. PM Gordon Brown announced that the UK is withdrawing most of its remaining forces from Iraq:

At its height, in the months after Saddam Hussein was toppled, the multinational force numbered about 300,000 soldiers from 38 countries - 250,000 from the United States, about 40,000 from Britain and the rest ranging from 2,000 Australians to 70 Albanians.

By January of this year, though, the combined non-U.S. contingent had dwindled to just over 14,000. As of Tuesday, it stood at 20 nations and roughly 11,400 soldiers.

It's in for more unraveling: Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday that Britain will halve its remaining force of 5,000 next spring, and another official said there were no guarantees any British troops would remain in Iraq beyond the end of 2008.

Denmark pulled out most of its forced in August. Latvia and Lithuania left over the summer.

Georgia has announced, like the UK, a major reduction in its force presence -- from 2000 now to 300 next summer.

I've frequently noted the withering away of the coalition.


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UK: not-so-willing?

BBC, October 12:

The head of the British Army has said the presence of UK armed forces in Iraq "exacerbates the security problems".

In an interview in the Daily Mail, Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, is quoted as saying the British should "get out some time soon".

Danatt had this to say about the legitimacy of the ongoing war:

Sir Richard told the newspaper: "We are in a Muslim country and Muslims' views of foreigners in their country are quite clear.

"As a foreigner, you can be welcomed by being invited in a country, but we weren't invited certainly by those in Iraq at the time."

He added: "Whatever consent we may have had in the first place, may have turned to tolerance and has largely turned to intolerance."

I'd say the clock is ticking down now...


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Filed as: Iraq

Japan: unwilling; US next?

Japan has announced that its troops are leaving Iraq. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced this decision just days before he visited President Bush -- and Graceland.

Japan has thus joined a long list of countries no longer willing to participate in the coalition of the willing. Italy announced something similar in May. Just follow my old links and you can find posts about Spain, the Ukraine, Honduras, the Philippines, etc.

According to news reports that have been much-discussed in the past week or so, the US may be in the "cut and run" crowd by the fall elections.



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Filed as: Iraq coalition

Italy: unwilling and angry

The BBC has some excerpts from Romano Prodi's first speech to the Italian Senate as Prime Minister.

"We consider the war and occupation in Iraq a grave error that hasn't solved - but has complicated - the problem of security," Mr Prodi said.

"It is therefore the government's intention to propose to parliament the withdrawal of our troops, even if we are proud of the display of professional ability, courage and humanity they have been giving."

Remember when George W. Bush called for a crusade against the terrorists? Apparently, Prodi does:

He added that most importantly, the international community should not be "indulgent to suggestions of fundamentalism of the opposing strain, which preach crusades and indiscriminately advocate clashes of civilisations."

This may be the first I've posted on the disintegration of the "coalition of the willing" since January 2006, when I previously noted Italy's announcement that it would be out by the end of 2006. It's not clear that Prodi will hasten the Italian withdrawal.

I also noted Ukraine's withdrawal at an earlier date, as well as Poland's. That latter post also discusses the "unwilling" support of the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Thailand.

A still older post discussed the withdrawal of the Philippines, Honduras, and Spain.


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Filed as: Prodi Iraq

Another one bites the dust

The so-called "coalition of the willing" in Iraq continues to lose membership.

The latest casualty is Poland, which announced its forthcoming withdrawal today. From Reuters:

Poland's government decided on Tuesday to withdraw its troops from Iraq at the end of 2005, making official an earlier proposal, Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said.

"At the time of the expiry of the Security Council's mandate -- meaning at the end of 2005 -- the operations of the Polish stabilization mission should be finished," Szmajdzinski told a news conference after a cabinet meeting...."We are carrying out an exit strategy from Iraq."

Poland, which has 1700 troops stationed in Iraq, has suffered 17 deaths.

Last month, I think I forgot to note that Italy too is pulling its troops out of Iraq. As reported by the BBC, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says that the 3000 Italian troops will be home by September.

The Dutch left in mid-March.

I've reported previously about previous similar decisions by the Philippines, Spain, Honduras, and the Ukraine.

All told, 11 states have already pulled out of Iraq and 5 or 6 more have announced their intentions to leave ASAP. As reported by The Times of London, Thailand, Hungary, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, New Zealand and Norway have also taken out all their troops (most number in the low hundreds).

The original coalition had 30 to 35 participating states, though the White House used to list nearly 50 countries, including Afghanistan and some states without real militaries, like Costa Rica, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, and the Solomon Islands.

Ukraine: No Longer Willing

Another state member of the "coalition of the willing" has decided to withdraw its troops from Iraq. This time, it is the Ukraine. Today's Post has the story:

The government of Ukraine, acting a day after an explosion killed eight of its soldiers in Iraq, announced Monday that it would withdraw its 1,650-member force by the middle of 2005.

Two recent events may have spurred this action, which had been expected.

One, 8 Ukrainian soldiers were killed Monday, which nearly doubled the state's casualties in the war.

Two, Ukraine is getting a new President. He may be more pro-western than his predecessor, but this apparently signals some tension with US policy in the war on terror.

Previously, I've noted some other states who withdrew from the coalition.

Coalition of the Willing

The Philippines has withdrawn its last troops from Iraq and is apparently no longer part of the President's "coalition of the willing."

Spain left months ago, as did Honduras. Poland's prime minister announced this weekend that the Polish deployment will decrease by half very soon.

What about Britain? Isn't the UK a solid contributing member of the coalition?

Consider this your stat of the day:

Halliburton has 15,000 workers in Iraq and Kuwait, 4,000 more than the number of British soldiers deployed there.

At least the U.S. still has some friends with global reach.