The Incredible Shrinking Coalition

The Ukrainians are long gone. So are the Norwegians. The Italians and South Koreans are getting ready to leave, and the Britons and Japanese could begin packing their bags later this year.

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In the months after the March 2003 invasion, the multinational force peaked at about 300,000 soldiers from 38 nations - 250,000 from the United States, about 40,000 from Britain, and the rest ranging from 2,000 Australians to 70 Albanians.

[Now] countries have abandoned the coalition, shrinking the overall size of the force to 157,500, including the 138,000 U.S. troops.

Britain, with about 8,000 troops in Iraq . . . made clear that "if things in Iraq continue to progress as they are, there will be significantly fewer British forces there by next year."

[Ukraine] withdrew its last contingent of 876 troops in December;

Bulgaria also brought home its 380 infantry troops;

[South Korea plans] to bring home about 1,000 of their 3,270 troops in phases this year;

[Italy] announced last month it would withdraw all its forces by the end of 2006.

Japan, which has 600 non-combat troops [in Iraq] . . . "will withdraw within several months."

C'est la vie.

As you know, you go to war with the [coalition] you have. They're not the [coalition] you might want or wish to have at a later time.

They might want to reconsider their plans for Iran, though.