Coalition of The Shrinking

[babylonsister]

http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2289


Coalition of The Shrinking
by: Chris LeJeune
Thu Dec 11, 2008 at 11:50:10 AM EST


As the end of the year approaches so does the UN mandate in Iraq. What was once known as the "coalition of the willing" is beginning to disappear.

NPR.org, December 9, 2008 · Most of the last members of the "Coalition of the Willing" are leaving Iraq as the year ends and, with them, the United Nations mandate authorizing their presence.

Nearly every day, with an exchange of salutes, speeches and commemorative plaques, another small contingent of troops says goodbye to the overwhelmingly American force that they've been part of.

In recent days, soldiers from Japan, Tonga and Bosnia have departed from U.S. bases where they've performed guard duty, training and humanitarian missions for much of the past five years. The coalition, which the Bush administration once claimed to number 49 countries, has now dwindled to fewer than a dozen. Even at its most robust, the coalition was always a target for critics, who pointed out that most of its members were tokens in a force that was more than 95 percent American and British.

This could be viewed two different ways. Either "victory has been achieved" (by what event I do not know) or "rats leaving a sinking ship". Either way this points to the obvious need to begin withdrawal of military forces.

Japan's commitment to the coalition ended on Dec. 6 with a ceremony marking the withdrawal of the last of its air force personnel. Japan initially provided more than 600 soldiers for reconstruction and humanitarian work in southern Iraq, but withdrew most of them in the summer of 2006 after it was announced that Iraqi troops would take over security in their area.

Some Japanese pilots and ground teams stayed on until now to fly C-130 transport planes that ferried supplies and personnel between Baghdad and southern Iraq.

The Pacific Island nation of Tonga was typical of the smaller nations in the coalition. Ever since June of 2004, it has kept a force of around 50 of its marines in Iraq, with many of them serving alongside U.S. Marines in the violent Anbar province. As troops were rotated in and out, the number of Tongans who served in Iraq at one time or another makes up a significant chunk of the country's 450-member armed force.

Over the past year, the Tongan marines were assigned to guard part of the U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad. Their farewell ceremony on Dec. 4 included a Tongan war chant that boomed through one of the palaces of former dictator Saddam Hussein.

Memorable as that was, it was just one in a string of departures, following the Azerbaijan contingent the day before, and the South Koreans a few days before that. The schedule calls for a half-dozen more units to leave by Dec. 18: the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Denmark, Albania and Moldova.

Iraqi officials say they will allow only six countries to have troops remaining in Iraq after the end of this year. The U.S. will remain under the terms of a newly ratified agreement with the Iraqi government. Britain, Australia, El Salvador, Estonia and Romania will keep a total of about 5,500 troops in Iraq, training the Iraqi military and conducting humanitarian aid missions.

Even those nations remaining are looking to reduce the size of their commitments. The U.S. has agreed to remove all combat troops by the end of 2011. Britain is reportedly preparing to draw down its 4,100-member force to leave only a training group of 300-to-400 troops by June. British news media quoted Defense Ministry officials as saying the withdrawal could begin in March.

Whether we want to consider the elections of 2005 our "victory", the removal and subsequent hanging of Saddam in 2004, or the "surge" that still continues today. Regardless, it is time to support our troops, and bring them home.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Where's Poland?