Some in Bush's 'coalition of the willing' are suddenly losing their will

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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/079/wash/Some_in_Bush_s_coalition_of_th:.shtml

WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush's prized ''coalition of the willing'' the three dozen countries that are contributing military forces in Iraq appears suddenly to be losing some of its will.

First Spain said it was getting out, then Poland said it might leave early, and on Friday the South Korean Ministry of Defense announced that it will not send its troops to the area of Iraq that U.S. commanders had requested, although it said it would position them elsewhere in Iraq.

The coalition may not be crumbling, but neither is it gaining the political traction that the Pentagon had hoped for as it tackles the difficult task of finding fresh forces for the Iraq mission in 2005 and beyond.

A key element of the Bush administration's strategy for Iraq is to put an international face on the military force that is not only helping rebuild the country but also to trying to snuff out a resilient insurgency.

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