World

'Coalition of the willing' comes to end in Iraq

by Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke | August 2, 2009 at 06:37 am

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At the height of the Iraq war about 300,000 troops made up the "Coalition of the Willing". This came quietly to an end, with little publicity. 40,000 of those troops were British, while Australia supplied about 2000.

The more traditional allies of the US, which supported the Afghanistan effort, did not support the invasion of Iraq. Canada was one of those countries.

The war in Iraq is now strictly an American effort. US troops have withdrawn from cities and towns into rural encampments and can assist Iraqi Security Forces on request.

President Obama has shifted his effort onto the war in Afghanistan, with some 68,000 troops on the ground there now. The ISAF commander is considering asking for more troops.

130,000 troops remain in Iraq. Consideration is being given by the Pentagon to divert two more Combat Brigades to Afghanistan.

The war in Iraq was truly an American-only effort Saturday after Britain and Australia, the last of its international partners, pulled out.

Little attention was paid in Iraq to what effectively ended the so-called coalition of the willing, with the U.S. — as the leader of Multi-National Force, Iraq — letting the withdrawals pass without any public demonstration.

The quiet end of the coalition was a departure from its creation, which saw then-U.S. President George W. Bush court countries for support before and after the March 2003 invasion.