Two of the U.S.’s allies in IRAQ are pulling out their forces this month, while others are considering possible troop withdrawals or reductions, adding to the pressure on Washington as calls grow to bring U.S. soldiers home, the Associated Press reported on Friday.
Bulgaria and Ukraine will start withdrawing their combined 1,250 troops by mid-December.
If Australia, Britain, Italy, Japan, Poland and South Korea reduce or pull out their soldiers, more than half of the non-American troops in Iraq could be gone by next month.
Japanese and South Korean troops help with reconstruction, but British and Australian soldiers support American forces and Italian and Polish troops train Iraqi army and police. Their withdrawal would deal a major blow to Washington’s efforts to prepare Iraqis to take control over their country, a step that the U.S. says would lead to an exit strategy.
According to the BUSH administration’s strategy for Iraq, announced by the president Wednesday, expanding international support was one of Bush’s main goals. He also seemed to address the issue of more allies leaving the war-torn country.
More than 2,110 U.S. military personnel have died in Iraq since the beginning of the Iraq war, according to an AP count. About 200 soldiers from other countries also have died, including 98 from Britain. Other tolls: Italy, 27; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Slovakia, three; Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, one each.
Unease
"The vibrations of unease from within the United States clearly have an impact on public opinion elsewhere," said Terence Taylor of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Washington. "Public opinion in many of these countries is heavily divided."
After the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the multinational force was more than 300,000 soldiers from 38 countries, 250,000 from the U.S. and 50,000 from other countries. The force has steadily unraveled as the death toll rises and opposition grows in involved countries.
Now the 160,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq are backed by just under 24,000 mostly non-combat personnel from 27 countries. Britain has the second-largest force with 8,000 in Iraq and 2,000 elsewhere in the Gulf region.
In the spring, the Netherlands had about 1,400 soldiers in Iraq. Now, they are 19, including just one Dutch soldier in the Iraqi capital.
Ukraine's remaining 876 soldiers in Iraq are expected to leave by the end of this month, fulfilling a campaign pledge by President Viktor Yushchenko. Bulgaria is also withdrawing its 380 troops after Iraq’s parliamentary election in December.
Despite public opposition, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's would decide on Dec. 8 to extend the mission in Iraq for its 600 soldiers for another year, but it could decide later to pullout troops around May.
And although British PM Tony Blair insists there is no fixed withdrawal timetable, and that UK forces will leave Iraq when local soldiers can take over, Defense Secretary John Reid said last month that a withdrawal could start "in the course of the next year."
South Korea, the second-largest contingent in Iraq after Britain, is expected to pull out about 1,000 of its 3,200 soldiers in the first half of 2006.
The Italian army is expected to give parliament a timetable for a gradual withdrawal of its 2,800 troops, while Poland's new government will decide by mid-December whether to extend its Iraq mission beyond Dec. 31.
Australian Defense Ministry said about 450 soldiers could leave by May. Australia has about 900 troops and support staff across Iraq.