Thursday, October 28, 2004

Non-US Forces in Iraq

I keep hearing the candidates talk about the nature of our coalition in Iraq. Bush points out that we have 30 countries there together. Kerry points out that the United States is taking 90% of the casualties. So, I've wondered, how many troops are in Iraq from each of the coalition of the willing?

Recently, I found a nice summary of Non-US Forces in Iraq. Let me summarize the summary:
  • Six countries (besides America) have over 1,000 troops in Iraq.
  • Two countries have between 500 and 1,000 troops in Iraq.
  • Thirteen countries have between 100 and 500 troops in Iraq.
  • Seven countries have fewer than 100 troops in Iraq.
(Alert readers will note, that adds up to 28 countries.)

Norway has ten people there; Moldova has twelve. Those kinds of contributions make me wonder if someone at the White House said to them, "just send some token support, so we can say that another country is contributing." Then again, maybe those countries have hardly any military, and a dozen bodies is a major commitment for them; I really know nothing about their armies.

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