Non-U.S. forces rethink leaving Iraq

[ECH1969]

Iraq's successful election last month appears to have reinvigorated interest by some non-U.S. nations in supporting Washington's coalition in the nation.

Australia said it would dispatch 450 new troops to Iraq -- more than double the number of its forces now deployed in the country -- to help with training, the Washington Post said Friday. Portugal could send back almost as many troops as it had earlier deployed in Iraq, this time as part of the NATO mission.

Poland, which withdrew 700 of its 2,400 troops this month and said it would withdraw the rest this year, is now sending a general to Washington to discuss how to restructure the Polish mission to contribute to training. Other nations that appear open to a fresh commitment to train Iraqis include Ukraine, Macedonia and the Netherlands.

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=93e9a74b3883fc7f&cat=ab2402315313d795
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Interesting to see as long as they think they winning they are willing to stay in Iraq and send more troops. Now if things seem to be going sour again, lets see how long it takes for them to run.

[daleo]

1. This is just tokenism, to shut Bush up.

It means nothing, and they aren't running. They are just responding to the desires of their populations to stay out of Iraq, like normal democracies are supposed to do.

[bemildred]

2. Yeah. The NATO guy, de Hoop, he wants a piece of the action so bad

he can taste it, but none of the big nations are willing to
give him any troops.

[FloridaPat]

3. Wow, that $400 million in bribe money got spent fast.

[bemildred]

4. Yep, the more they get, the harder they think about it.

[Lizzie Borden]

5. Does this mean we can forget about Poland?

}(

[David__77]

6. WARNING: Official state propaganda.

It must bear this disclaiming.

[Lexingtonian]

7. they're switching from patrol duties

to training ones. Wow, there's a vote of confidence in Bush and the Pentagon.