Coalition nations departing Iraq

[sabra]

Source: CNN

(CNN) — The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq is swiftly dwindling as security and stability return to the country, and by January, only the United States and five other nations are likely to remain, a top military officer said.

“The security situation has stabilized quite a bit and it allows the coalition as such to change,” said Brig. Gen. Nicolas Matern, a deputy commander for Multi-National Corps-Iraq and a Canadian officer embedded with the U.S. military.

The United States and Britain have been the two major members of the coalition, have the largest contingents there — at 146,000 and 4,000 troops respectively — and have been the ones primarily engaged in combat.

They were among the 35 nations that contributed troops to Iraq during the war — mostly to the Multi-National Force-Iraq and some to the separate NATO and U.N. missions, Matern told CNN in a phone interview from Baghdad.

Read more: http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2008/12/02/coalition-nations-departing-iraq/

[izquierdista]

1. Door hits Bush in the ass on the way out

[acmavm]

2. Am I stupid or crazy?? What the hell do they mean by this?

<snip>

"...as security and stability return to the country..."

<snip>

Hells bells, they were attacking children today. What the criteria for security and stability over there?

[tclambert]

3. It's "Mission Accomplished" yet again.

Haven't you been paying attention? George Bush, our greatest commander-in-chief, has won the war for the seventh time! Can you name any other general or C-in-C who has ever won any war seven times over? No, you can't. Alexander the Great never won the same war seven times. Napoleon certainly didn't defeat the Russians seven times. And since the fighting in Iraq is still going on, our beloved leader theoretically has a chance to win it for an eighth time.

[Tempest]

5. It's code for..

"Things have gone to hell in a handbasket and we're getting the f*** outta here."

[pattmarty]

4. What was that joke phrase again? "Coalition of the willing"? What a fucking joke.