A look at nations committing troops to Iraq

minibush1

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Sep 14, 2003
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A look at nations committing troops to Iraq
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sept. 19 ? Some of the nations with which the United States has discussed contributing forces to peacekeeping operations in Iraq. There are currently more than 20,000 troops or security forces in Iraq from 26 nations, most of them organized under two peacekeeping contingents: under the British in the south and under the Poles in central Iraq.

COUNTRIES THAT HAVE DISCUSSED SENDING TROOPS:
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? Turkey: Considering U.S. request for 10,000 to 20,000 peacekeeping troops, Turkish officials say.
? South Korea: Washington has suggested that Seoul send 9,500 troops, South Korea officials say.
? Pakistan: Debating a U.S.-British request for a division of 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers, officials in Islamabad say.
? India: Indian officials have said Washington has sought an unspecified number of Indian troops. Defense Ministry officials indicated that sending troops is unlikely because of a surge in violence by Islamic militants in Kashmir.
? Russia: Defense minister has said sending troops isn't yet on the agenda, but he didn't rule it out.
? Brazil: Has turned down U.S. request for peacekeepers; officials in Brasilia declined to say how many troops Washington had sought.
? Japan: Bush telephoned Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday to personally lobby for Tokyo's support in reconstructing Iraq and Afghanistan. Koizumi pledged that Tokyo would continue its support, Japan's Foreign Ministry said. It did not elaborate on whether specific requests or offers for help were made.


COUNTRIES WITH PEACEKEEPING TROOPS IN IRAQ:
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Britain: 7,400; 1,200 more planned.
Italy: 3,000
Poland: 2,400
Ukraine: 1,640
Spain: 1,300
Netherlands: 1,106
Romania: 600
Bulgaria: 480
Denmark: 406; 90 more planned for October.
Thailand: 400
El Salvador: 360
Honduras: 360
Czech Republic: 312
Dominican Republic: 300
Hungary: 290
Philippines: 177
Mongolia: 174
Norway: 156
Nicaragua: 120
Portugal: 120
Latvia: 106
Lithuania: 90; may send 50 more.
Slovakia: 82
Albania: 70
New Zealand: 61
Kazakhstan: 27.
 

Jmman

Diamond Member
Dec 17, 1999
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Impressive, especially considering that Kazakhstan is committing 27 troops, or 98% of their entire armed forces...:)
 

VioletAura

Banned
Aug 28, 2003
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No one wants to send too many since the US will just use them as cannon fodder and human sandbags.
 

SuperTool

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
14,000
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Question about El Salvador. Are those their own armed forces or just illegals serving in the US Army ;)
 

BaliBabyDoc

Lifer
Jan 20, 2001
10,737
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The Bushies have been shortchanging our coalition partners. They typically claim 21 members but this list has 26.
 

minibush1

Member
Sep 14, 2003
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Yo BaliBabyDoc, cheers :wine:
Iraq exit strategy paid off for Howard
By Tom Allard, Defence Reporter
September 9, 2003
From the earliest stages of the planning for the Iraq war, Australia made it clear to the US that its combat forces would be leaving as soon as the main hostilities were over.

"We said [during meetings in the US in August 2002] we would only be there for the battle phase and that was because we had security responsibilities closer to home," a Defence source said.

It was an exit strategy that's the envy of those nations facing frustrating and dangerous postwar operations. For the Prime Minister, John Howard, it's the pay-off for the political pounding he received for his strong backing for the Bush Administration in the lead-up to the conflict.

While President George Bush and British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, grapple with falling opinion polls and rising costs linked to the war, Mr Howard straddles the local political scene, with no casualties to justify and a relatively modest financial drain.

The Government was confident the main battle for Iraq would be over in weeks but that peacekeeping could drag on for years.
There was also concern that the US planning for postwar Iraq was in disarray after the US Defence Department took it over from the State Department in November. "The State Department had done quite a lot of work on it but that just got swept aside when Defence took it over," an Australian official said yesterday. "That was definitely a mistake."

After being the third largest contributor of armed forces and equipment during the main conflict, Australia now ranks eighth in terms of personnel in Iraq, its 800 people equal with Slovenia.

"We always knew Australia only wanted to be involved in the sharp end of the conflict and we are very appreciative for that," the US ambassador, Tom Shieffer, said yesterday.

'We have not requested any additional troops from Australia and we have no intention of doing so."


 

Tripleshot

Elite Member
Jan 29, 2000
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yawn.
rolleye.gif
 

BaliBabyDoc

Lifer
Jan 20, 2001
10,737
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"We said [during meetings in the US in August 2002] we would only be there for the battle phase and that was because we had security responsibilities closer to home," a Defence source said.
Must be those damn boat people.