Whatever happened to the " Coalition ? "

[jaysunb]

I never hear about the "willing" anymore, not even the Brits. Is there anybody but the USA in Iraq?

[Bluebear]

1. I believe we are down to Denmark, Britain & Australia nt

[MoonRiver]

3. Whatever happened to Denmark?

:shrug::shrug::shrug:

[Rex]

2. Wilted while on the vine.

Along with whatever world sympathy we had right after 911 and any thoughts that compassionate conservatism actually is real and not a myth.

[AndyA]

4. Coalition?

Are you referring to the two or three troops from other countries that spent a couple of days in Iraq before Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" and went home? That coalition?

:sarcasm:

[jaysunb]

6. Andy, Andy

:rofl:

[William769]

5. They were booted out of Congress!

[walldude]

7. Hey you forgot Poland...

oh wait they bailed out... Oops damn flip-floppers.

[stillcool]

8. it's now the 'coalition of the billing'...

Worry Grows as Foreigners Flock
to Iraq's Risky Jobs
By Sonni Efron
Los Angeles Times
July 30, 2005
For hire: more than 1,000 U.S.-trained former soldiers and police officers from Colombia. Combat-hardened, experienced in fighting insurgents and ready for duty in Iraq.
Fijians, Ukrainians, South Africans, Nepalese and Serbs reportedly are on the job in Iraq. Peter W. Singer of the Brookings Institution, author of a book on the private military industry, said veterans of Latin American conflicts, including Guatemalans, Salvadorans and Nicaraguans, also had turned up. "What we've done in Iraq is assemble a true 'coalition of the billing,' " Singer said, playing off President Bush's description of the U.S.-led alliance of nations with a troop presence in Iraq as a "coalition of the willing."
............................
The Colombians would join the lucrative private military industry in Iraq even as the U.S.-funded war against drug traffickers continues to rage in their homeland. Experts are divided on the effect that would have on U.S. national interests. "It's not necessarily self-defeating, but it's not optimal," Singer said. The recruitment of Colombians shows that although "there's still a local demand" for high-end military services in Colombia, "the global demand is far higher," he said.

Census Counts 100,000 Contractors In Iraq
Civilian Number, Duties Are Issues
By Renae Merle
Washington Post
December 5, 2006

There are about 100,000 government contractors operating in Iraq, not counting subcontractors, a total that is approaching the size of the U.S. military force there, according to the military's first census of the growing population of civilians operating in the battlefield.

The survey finding, which includes Americans, Iraqis and third-party nationals hired by companies operating under U.S. government contracts, is significantly higher and wider in scope than the Pentagon's only previous estimate, which said there were 25,000 security contractors in the country

[jaysunb]

9. Now , THAT'S,a coalition ( contrators)

n/t

[stillcool]

10. I don't know how anyone..

could possibly know what's going on in that country---between spooks, PMC's, foreign fighters, special forces and the military. No wonder they need all those bases--in a country the size of California. With the number of Iraqi's who've been killed, and all those that have fled...the odds must be getting better.