The Globe and Mail February 21, 2007
Who's in Iraq
On Wednesday, Britain announced plans to withdraw about 1,600 troops from Iraq in the coming months and wants to reduce its force to below 5,000 by late summer if Iraqi forces can secure the country's southern region, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday.
The following is a look at other non-U.S. countries providing troops in Iraq. Numbers, however, are widely debated. The list is drawn from media reports and figures compiled by GlobalSecurity.org, a Washington-based defence and security group, which counted only countries that contributed troops as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom:
• South Korea – 2,300 troops in northern city of Irbil; plans to bring home 1,100 troops this spring and parliament has called for a complete withdrawal by the end of the year
• Australia – 1,400 troops; Prime Minister John Howard Wednesday called Britain's move “good sense” but reject calls to follow suit
• Poland – 900 non-combat troops, mission extended to end of this year
• Romania – 865 troops, with most serving in the south under British command 460-member contingent from southern Iraq by August and transfer security responsibilities to Iraqi forces.
• Denmark – The country's 460-member contingent will be pulled by August, with security responsibilities transferred to Iraqi forces. During the conflict, six Danish soldiers have been killed in Iraq
• El Salvador – 380 troops doing peacekeeping work in Hillah; no plans for withdrawal
• Georgia – 850 troops serving under U.S. command in Baqouba; no withdrawal plans
• Azerbaijan – 150 troops, mostly sentries on patrol near Hadid
• Bulgaria – 150 troops, including a large number of non-troops guarding a refugee camp north of Baghdad • Latvia – about 136 troops serving under Polish command
• Albania – 126 troops, mostly doing non-combat duty near airport Mosul • Czech Republic – 100 troops
• Mongolia – 100 troops, no withdrawal plans
• Lithuania – 50 troops as part of Danish battalion near Basra; a spokeswoman for the Baltic nation said Wednesday the country is “seriously considering” not replacing the troops with the mission ends this summer, marking the first time the staunch U.S. ally has indicated it would reduce its Iraq commitment
• Armenia – 46 troops, mission extended to the end of 2007
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – 37 troops
• Estonia – 34 troops serving under U.S. command near Baghdad
• Macedonia – 33 troops in Taji, north of Baghdad
• Kazakhstan – 29 troops, mostly military engineers
• Moldova – 11 bomb-defusing experts returned home in December; parliament has yet to decide on a new mission
• Fiji – The South Pacific nation contributed 150 troops, but the contingent was deployed as part of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq
Globalsecurity.org also says countries that had troops in Iraq or supported operations in the country at one point but have since pulled out include: Nicaragua, Spain, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Philippines, Thailand, New Zealand, Tonga, Portugal, The Netherlands, Hungary, Singapore, Norway, Ukraine, Japan, Italy and Slovakia.
The U.S. State Department, in the Feb. 14 Iraq Weekly Status Report, continues to list both Japan and Singapore as contributors to Iraqi stability operations. In total, it says, 34 countries – including the United States – are contributing to Iraqi stability operations.
With reports from Associated Press
© Copyright 2007, The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
