The “coalition of the willing” in Iraq is starting to look more and more unwilling as two more countries follow Spain’s lead and withdraw troops from Iraq.
The Dominican Republic will withdraw its 300 troops from Iraq “as soon as possible” and Honduras will bring home its 370 soldiers within two months, officials from the two Latin American countries said on Tuesday.
The pullouts, which follow Spain’s move to bring its soldiers home, were a double blow to the United States and its coalition allies.The Dominican Republic’s secretary of the armed forces, Lt. Gen. Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez, said President Hipolito Mejia had decided on a withdrawal “as soon as possible” after meeting on Tuesday with senior aides. An agreement with the United States on troops in Iraq had been due to expire in June but until now there had been no word on when the Dominican troops would come home.
“The president has decided on the withdrawal of our troops in Iraq as he believes there is no need to run unnecessary risks,” Soto Jimenez said.
The Dominican decision was spurred by the announcement by Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain’s new prime minister, that he had given orders for Spain’s 1,400 troops in Iraq to come home as soon as possible.
And is appears the Thais are ready to say goobye too.
The Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, said of his troops: “If we get hurt or killed, I will not keep them there.” The Thai Senate began a debate yesterday on a resolution calling for the troops to come home.
The soldiers have been confined to their camp in Kerbala, south of Iraq, since a wave of violence erupted a few weeks ago.
“We do not go there to fight. If we get killed why should we stay?” Mr Thaksin said.
It’s becoming abundantly clear that in order to turn things around in Iraq, we’re going to first have to make this a much more international effort—with a big role played by the U.N. It’s also clear that before that can happen, regime change is going to have to take place right here at home.