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Submitted by ctv_en_3 on Wed, 05/24/2006 - 11:30
Italy’s declaration to pull its troop out of Iraq this year has caused further difficulties for the international coalition led by the US, which was established three years ago, according to the Spanish News Agency EFE.

The Spanish agency recently emphasised that even when the coalition reached 200,000 officers and soldiers, including 160,000 US military officers and soldiers last year, the international forces were not able to pacify and democratise a big and complicated country like Iraq.


In the Gulf War in 1991, the US led an international force numbering 500,000 soldiers to “liberate” Kuwait from the Iraqi occupation.


During the past three years, since the beginning of the US-led war in Iraq, the international coalition has been gradually reduced after Nicaragua withdrew 115 soldiers on March 1, 2004), and Spain pulled out 1,300 soldiers in April 2004). Recently, Honduras, the Dominica Republic, the Philippines, Thailand, New Zealand, Hungary, Tonga, Portugal, Moldova, Ukraine and Bulgaria also followed suit.


American people’s support for their troop presence in Iraq is dwindling and many people have even criticised the US troop presence in Iraq, making President W.Bush’s approval rating fall by around 29 percent to 36 percent. The US had to withdraw its troops from 160,000 to 130,000 while 2,450 were killed in action.


To cope with the situation, the US Government has put pressure on Iraqi political parties to form a new unity government early, considering it a key factor in ending violence and gradually pulling its troops out of Iraq.


It may not be possible to reduce US troop levels in Iraq this year, according to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's testimony before a Senate committee on May 17. The final decision will be made by President W. Bush after drawing opinions from front commanders.


Newly elected Italian Prime Minister Pomano Prodi said at a ceremony to be sworn in as prime minister on May 18 that his Government will propose the Parliament return the remaining 2,600 soldiers in Iraq according to a “technical timeframe”. Mr Prodi is following his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi’s plan to withdraw 1,000 soldiers in June and all troops from Iraq late this year. The new head of the Italian Government also emphasised that the Iraq war is seriously wrong and is not helpful for fighting terrorism.

The UK, which has had 11 soldiers killed in Iraq, also announced that it will withdraw around 800 soldiers, accounting for 10 percent of its military forces in Iraq but it did not give a specific date for withdrawal.


According to a survey by the UK newspaper
Daily Telegraph in April, most English people said the UK troop presence in Iraq has no meaning and 57 percent of the UK population think the Iraq war is wrong.


Poland has nearly 700 soldiers in Iraq and its President Aleksander Kwasniewski said its troops will be pulled out later this year and will only remain if the Iraqi Government requests. Seventy percent of the Polish population protested the presence of the country’s troops in Iraq although they did not take to the streets.


Romanian President Traian Basescu affirmed that Bucharest will not withdraw 859 soldiers from Iraq unless the local government requests.


In late December 2005, Bulgaria withdrew more than 460 infantry soldiers and 153 others are now doing humanitarian work at refugee camps in northern Baghdad. After withdrawing 300 soldiers in late 2004, Hungary only participates in training
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces. Meanwhile, Japan has also announced that it will withdraw all its troops from Iraq.   

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