Departing troops test Iraq coalition

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About one-third of coalition troops in Iraq, other than British and American soldiers, have left or are scheduled to be withdrawn after Jan. 30 elections, and remaining coalition members say they will be hard-pressed to fill the gaps.

Troops from the Netherlands and Hungary are to leave in mid-March; Poland -- which ranks fourth in terms of numbers -- intends to downsize its troop force; and Italy -- the third largest troop provider -- may not extend its present commitment, which ends this month, by more than three to six months.

The moves will reduce the multinational force on the ground by almost 2,200 troops by the end of March, bringing the total number of international soldiers who will have pulled out since the start of the war to just over 5,000 -- about one-third of the coalition effort not including American and British forces.

Most coalition members say they will not decamp even if the security situation deteriorates, but decisions on troop deployments often rest on parliamentary votes, not executive decisions.

U.S. government officials are working to continue to build the coalition, said army spokesman Lt. Col. Joe Yoswa in Washington.

"We are working with NATO [and] we continue to have open lines of communication with our coalition partners and others who may want to join us," he said.

Altogether, 13 countries have pulled out their troops or are planning to leave or reduce their presence. Nevertheless, according to Lt. Col. David C. Farlow of Central Command, coalition force strength after the invasion peaked last month with approximately 25,800 soldiers -- roughly 9,000 of them British -- with fresh troops from other countries such as Georgia more than making up for the troops that left.

Concrete country-by-country numbers are hard to come by. "We do not provide a comprehensive listing of countries that are supporting the operations there with forces on the ground," said Col. Farlow, citing security concerns.

Although countries like South Korea and Japan recently joined the effort, other nations appear to be on their way out -- using the January election as justification. The departures will increase pressure on allies who have vowed to stick with the United States until the end.

Robert Killebrew, a retired Army colonel who writes extensively on national security issues, said problems caused by the withdrawals would be more political than military, but that there was a risk in relying too heavily and too soon on Iraqi troops and police.