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Freedom Buddies: The 36 Members of the Coalition of the Willing
It's demeaning that we have to do this. But since President Bush keeps lying about the size of the coalition in Iraq, we have to. Last night, the president thanked "the 36 nations who have troops on the ground in Iraq." To which the Washington Post sighs:
But the State Department's most recent weekly report on Iraq said there are 25 countries supplying 11,685 troops -- about 7 percent of the size of the U.S. forces.
It would be funny if it weren't designed to mislead the American people about the way the international community contributes to the American mission in Iraq. But Bush is right that there are more than 25 countries contributing fighters in Iraq -- you know, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the Emirate of Blackwater....
Seriously, the State Department report (pdf, page 31) lists the 25, and then ticks the number up to 33 by adding the U.S., Fiji, and "seven Nato countries" that aren't -- aren't -- a part of Multinational Forces-Iraq: Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Turkey and Slovenia. Yes, you read that right: State says seven but only lists six.
The final three? We've got calls out to the State and Defense Departments, and we'll let you know who our mystery nations are when they tell us.
Comments (24)
Rebel wrote on September 14, 2007 10:48 AM:Not true!
It has been reported that Iceland has withdrawn it's two troops but you can't prove it! So Bush can still claim them.
RB-Chicago wrote on September 14, 2007 10:52 AM:ALL they do is lie. WHEN will the main stream media get some backbone and start calling them on this kinda crap???
We've been doing it for years but seems as if the rest of the world (MSM) is on the WH payroll!!!
Dread Pirate Robert wrote on September 14, 2007 10:52 AM:Maybe those eleven countries WERE there while the speech was being written, but they got up and walked (or, more likely, ran screaming) out of Iraq before it actually aired.
Yes! Plausible Deniability! I win!
Chesire111 wrote on September 14, 2007 11:02 AM:Well, at least Kazakhstan is with us. I can sleep better knowing that Borat is manning the watchtower!
seucrity code: "glass" as in superpower with a glass jaw.
Fed Up wrote on September 14, 2007 11:13 AM:while the sentences don't make sense, there actually are 33 countries listed on the page.
The 25.
The 6 (of 7) = 31
Plus the US and Fiji = 33
Bush musta written that page hisself since it's so mangled.
Fed Up wrote on September 14, 2007 11:15 AM:the number of countries on the page (page 31 actually) do add up to 33 even if the sentences are all mangled and non-sensical
25 in main list (i counted to make sure since you cant trust anything)
6 from non-mnf (even tho it says 7)
2 from US+Fiji
= 33
Bush musta written this page himself since its such an unintelligble mess (also note the first fiji asterick is actually above the one that actually mentions they are there)
dusty59 wrote on September 14, 2007 11:18 AM:Thus demonstrating once again that there is nothing that mr. bush will not lie about, large or small.
mcboo wrote on September 14, 2007 11:24 AM:Forget impeachment, can we just put him down? Much like a gimp race horse struggling to walk let alone run, it's almost sad seeing the Idiot who whould be king struggle to think.
There is also the fact that he's killed hundreds of thousands of people (crawling towards a million), left two countries in ruin and may well finish off our country before all's said & done.
TheraP wrote on September 14, 2007 11:27 AM:Can we please have, somehow, definitive numbers of actual persons - on the ground - for each country?
This may require contacting the "actual countries."
Nothing less.
sc: "shoe" - as in "actual"
landofthefree wrote on September 14, 2007 11:27 AM:perhaps he got his "36 countries" involved in the Iraqi war by counting people from the various countries that are working for First Kuwaiti, KBR/Halliburton, and other contracting firms.
You know, like the Filipinos who thought that they would be working in Dubai for the First Kuwaiti corporation, but after they boarded the plane, found out they were being taken (against their will) to Baghdad. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19214872/
I have a feeling that if we parsed his exact statement, he wasn't necessarily talking about nations with fighting forces in Iraq. The black-market mercenaries and slave workers from poor countries probably count in his "coalition of the willing" today.
TheraP wrote on September 14, 2007 11:29 AM:mcboo @ 11:24:
here's my thought for the day on bush:
bush acts - stupidly, impulsively, out of pique - and then he leaves the messes for others to clean up. professional suicide for them. retirement “boredom” for him. Is this war being fought so a bored, disconnected adolescent male can feel “alive” and “excited?” You have to wonder!
biggerbox wrote on September 14, 2007 11:50 AM:Perhaps he's counting the Iranian Quds forces that he and Joltin' Joe Lieberman have complained about? That would add another, but I don't think he'd be thanking them.
Do we get to count Turkish forces that are doing incursions into Kurdistan chasing Kurdish separatists?
grytpype wrote on September 14, 2007 11:55 AM:I think they are counting people who have dual citizenship as being from both countries.
Jolly Ranchero wrote on September 14, 2007 11:59 AM:"It has been reported that Iceland has withdrawn it's two troops but you can't prove it!"
2 troops? Is this hyperbole, or are you serious?
Anotherlib wrote on September 14, 2007 12:01 PM:What about England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom? That's 3 right there.
R Burgos wrote on September 14, 2007 12:14 PM:I think it was just a mangling or a misprint. If you add MNF-I and NTM-I (NATO Training Mission-Iraq, approx 140 personnel) and subtract the countries that would be double-counted (i.e., Romania, Bulgaria), you get 33 (including the US and Iraq).
Mike In Denmark wrote on September 14, 2007 12:18 PM:The Danish troops left Basra about a month ago. I think we had a little less than 500 there but I can't actually find a number.
Sapphite wrote on September 14, 2007 12:18 PM:Can someone tell me where to find the coalition numbers as a bar graph, please?
(Also, it think it's hilarious that my security code for this post is "bent"!)
ljk
Rebel wrote on September 14, 2007 12:45 PM:Mike in Denmark
Your country deployed 430 troops in April 2003. As of September 2007 you have a 55 remaining.
ShorelineCT wrote on September 14, 2007 1:06 PM:Looks like Fiji is still a confirmed member, then again, does being a gaurd amount to the same thing as a soldier?
Family awaits body’s arrival
Mike In Denmark wrote on September 14, 2007 1:41 PM:Fiji Times, 15-08-2007, Ed: 1, Pg: 003, 428 words , LOCAL
THE family of the Fijian guard killed in a roadside bombing in Iraq on Saturday are awaiting word from the American company CSS on when his body will be brought home for burial. The brother of the late Jone Marika Vuli, Savenca Vue, said some paperwo...
Thanks Rebel. Found some more myself. All Danish land forces left on August the 7th, the remaining 55 is a small helicopter force that will remain until January 1st, doing recognizance for the British forces. But I guess they count.
Wordsmith wrote on September 14, 2007 1:56 PM:Posted by: Mike In Denmark
Date: September 14, 2007 1:41 PM
Do you have something to refer to? I was looking at a Danish site (in English) and couldn't find specific dates or numbers, other mid-August.
TheraP wrote on September 14, 2007 2:08 PM:Since Puerto Rico isn't a state, maybe it counts as another country too?
And any Hispanics may also count as Mexicans or whatever country they came from.
Mike In Denmark wrote on September 14, 2007 4:03 PM:Sure, this is what the Google found: http://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/artikel/258348?rss which is a wire story from the Danish news agency Ritzau.
Try this translator, it should be somewhat understandable.
http://www.translation-guide.com/free_online_translators.php?from=Danish&to=English