U.S.-led coalition in Iraq dwindles as Italy and South Korea cut troops

The U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq is losing troops from two of its most important allies - Italy and South Korea - and up to a half dozen other members could draw down their forces or pull out entirely by year's end.

The withdrawals are complicating the U.S. effort to begin extracting itself from the country, where a fresh onslaught of deadly attacks on coalition forces is testing the resolve of key partners such as Britain and Poland.

Some observers say Iraq's deteriorating security situation is an argument for coalition forces to stay - not leave - and perhaps even deploy additional forces to tamp down violence as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki works to shift security duties to Iraqis over the next 18 months.

Underscoring the reality, the Pentagon said Tuesday it was shifting about 1,500 U.S. troops from Kuwait to western Iraq's volatile Anbar province to help the Iraqis establish order there.

Increased instability, violence and Islamic extremism in Iraq could require "a larger role for overt, co-ordinated, multilateral intervention, involving the key regional powers, to stabilize the situation," defence analyst Christopher Langton of the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies warns in a new report.

Defence Secretary Des Browne of Britain, the No. 2 military presence in Iraq with about 8,000 troops, conceded Tuesday that the latest attacks were "a major concern."

Two British soldiers were killed and two others wounded in a roadside bombing in Basra on Sunday, bringing to nine the number of British personnel who have died in the southern Iraqi city this month and pushing total British deaths in the past three years to 113. American deaths, meanwhile, are approaching 2,500.

Despite the bloodshed, public opposition to Britain's involvement and reports that more than 1,000 British troops may have deserted since 2003, Browne insisted there were no plans to pull British troops from Iraq.

"We will continue to remain in Iraq until the Iraqi government is confident that the Iraqi security forces are capable of providing security without assistance from the coalition forces," he told the British Broadcasting Corp.

"That will, of course, be in consultation with us and our allies. But the decision on withdrawal will be based on achieving the right conditions but not on a particular timetable."

The United States still provides most of the muscle for the mission, with about 132,000 troops in Iraq.

Officials have said they would like that number reduced to about 100,000 by the end of 2006, although White House spokesman Tony Snow cautioned last week that U.S. President George W. Bush is unlikely to say "we're going to be out in one year, two years, four years."

In the months after the March 2003 invasion, the multinational force peaked at about 300,000 soldiers from 38 countries, including 250,000 U.S. troops. But the coalition has shrunk steadily ever since, with Spain and Ukraine among the larger contributors to pull out.

The latest blow to the current 26-country coalition is Italy's decision to pull its remaining 2,600 troops out by the end of the year.

Italy's new defence minister, Arturo Parisi, was quoted by Italian media Tuesday as saying "Italy won't turn its back on Iraq" and would offer unspecified political, civil and humanitarian support.

And Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema wrote in Tuesday's Corriere della Sera newspaper that the pullout would be carried out "with the minimum possible risk for our soldiers, who have paid a high price," referring to the deaths of 31 Italian troops in Iraq.

"We'll be able to deal with this decision while keeping in mind the consequences for the Iraqi people and the need to co-ordinate with coalition forces," said D'Alema, confirming the force would be reduced to 1,600 by mid-June.

South Korea, the third-largest contributor of forces, began bringing troops home this week as part of a plan to withdraw about 1,000 of its 3,200 soldiers from northern Iraq by year's end.

Legislators in Denmark, which has 530 personnel in Iraq, approved a government plan Tuesday to cut the contingent by 80 troops. They also extended the mission to June 30, 2007.

Japan has about 600 non-combat troops doing humanitarian work in southern Iraq, and says it won't decide whether to withdraw them until Baghdad appoints new defence and interior ministers. There has been speculation the Japanese force will be withdrawn this year.

And in Poland, the prime minister said this month that his government was weighing whether to keep troops in Iraq beyond the end of 2006. Poland has 900 troops in central Iraq, where it leads an international force.

A look at countries in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. At least 25 countries now support a U.S. contingent of nearly 132,000.

Albania - 120 non-combat troops, mainly patrolling airport in Mosul; no plans to withdraw.

Armenia - 46 soldiers serving under Polish command through end of 2006; no plans to withdraw.

Australia - Roughly 470 troops and support personnel in Iraq, plus several hundred in the Persian Gulf region; no dates set for any pullout.

Azerbaijan - 150 troops, mostly serving as sentries, on patrols and protecting a dam near the city of Hadid Ha; no plans to withdraw.

Bosnia-Herzegovina - 36 experts identifying and destroying unexploded ordnance; experts being rotated every six months; no plans to withdraw.

Britain - About 8,000 troops in southern Iraq, roughly 2,000 others in the Persian Gulf region.

Bulgaria - Deployed 120 non-combat troops to guard refugee camp north of Baghdad after pulling out 380 infantry troops in December.

Czech Republic - 100 military police training Iraqi officers; mission extended to end of 2006.

Denmark - 530 troops patrolling southern city of Basra; parliament on Tuesday cut force by 80 and extended mission to June 30, 2007.

El Salvador - 380 soldiers doing peacekeeping and humanitarian work in Hillah; no immediate plans to withdraw.

Estonia - 40 troops, mostly infantry, serving under U.S. command in Baghdad, manning checkpoints, patrolling neighbourhoods, searching houses for weapons, escorting convoys; extension beyond end of 2006 expected.

Georgia - About 900 combat forces, medics and support personnel serving under U.S. command in Baqouba; no plans to withdraw or reduce contingent.

Italy - About 2,600 troops, most in southern city of Nasiriyah, involved in training, security and reconstruction; force to be reduced to 1,600 by mid-June and remaining troops expected to be withdrawn by year's end.

Japan - 600 non-combat troops based in Samawah to purify water, do other humanitarian tasks; decision on possible withdrawal postponed until Baghdad appoints new defence, interior ministers.

Kazahstan - 27 military engineers; defence minister has suggested a pullout by July.

Latvia - 135 soldiers, mostly infantry, manning checkpoints, patrolling and escorting materials; mission expires at end of 2006.

Lithuania - 60 soldiers, mostly infantry, serving with Danish contingent near Basra in southern Iraq; mission to last at least through end of 2006.

Macedonia - 32 troops providing security in Taji, north of Baghdad; no plans to withdraw.

Netherlands - 15 soldiers as part of NATO mission training police, army officers; mandate expires in August.

Poland - 900 non-combat troops; commands multinational force south of Baghdad; mission expires at end of year; government weighing whether to extend.

Romania - 860 troops, including 400 infantry, 150 mine experts, 100 military police, 50 military intelligence plus medics and UN guards; no plans to withdraw.

Slovakia - 104 troops stationed in Hillah in Polish sector, mostly engaged in de-mining; no plans to withdraw.

South Korea - In process of reducing its 3,200-member contingent in northern Iraq by 1,000 troops by end of year.

Zzzzz, meanwhile thousands of Iraqi troops are coming on-line each month more than making up for a couple thousand coalition troops being withdrawn. And Berlussconi before he was defeated had announced he'd be withdrawing Italian troops this year long ago, so this isn't really news.

By the way, why can't stories like this ever be reported from the standpoint of the Iraqis have taken up enough of their own defense needs and Al Qaeda is becoming less effective (both true,) thus allowing a partial withdrawl of forces? No, it's always couched as bad news for the US and a sign of a "deteriorating security situation," all which is just part of the media's determined efforts to mold perceptions by focusing on the sensational rather than the normalacy going on in much of Iraq. They'll focus on a few brazen attacks to make it look like the situation is spiraling out of control, rather than the desperate, angry last gasp tantrum of a few radicals seeing their influence in Iraq slowly waning and slipping away.

All of those Allies are important and if you're going to rank them you've left off a couple of countries that have been committing to our joint operations throughout the globe for a long time.

That's well understood - I was really addressing the fact that Australia and Denmark seemed to have been forgotten by the poster who said the UK and Poland were the top two allies.

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