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| Iraq |
| Stealth Multilateralism? |
| 2003-08-15 |
| Posted for Chuck by proxy--Edited for brevity. A NTIWAR or administration critics continue to lament (or rejoice) that only a "handful" of foreign troops are in or on their way to Iraq, thanks to the Bush administration’s supposed "unilateralism." Yet there are already rather more foreign troops already in Iraq than most people realize. This is partly because the Pentagon is inexplicably vague on the subject, but also because the U.S. and foreign media in Iraq do a poor job of reporting on the security situation outside Baghdad. For instance, virtually no one in America knows that Italy has nearly 3,000 troops in Iraq including soldiers, marines and some 500 Carabinieri paramilitary police. Indeed, on July 15 the Italian army’s mechanized Garibaldi Brigade assumed control of the entire Dhi Qar province (one of Iraq’s 18). Nor was it widely reported that Royal Dutch Marines this month replaced U.S. Marines at As Samawa. The Netherlanders, whose numbers will soon reach 1,100, will now administer the entire Al Mathanna province. These forces may have gone largely unnoticed because they come under command of the British 3rd Division HQ at Basra in the south of Iraq. They are part of a 15,500-strong multinational division (the Multinational Division South East or MND-SE) that also includes an overstrength Danish infantry battalion (450 men) and a Romanian mechanized infantry battalion (attached to the Italian brigade at Dhi Qar) and military police company (520), plus forces of at least company strength from the Czech Republic (300), Norway (140) and Portugal (130). Another multinational division, led by Poland (whose Special Forces played an important role in the capture of Um Kasr in March), is taking control of the whole South Central sector of Iraq, relieving the U.S. 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. The 31,000-square- mile sector includes the cities of Karbala and Nasiriyah. Commanded by Gen. Andrzej Tyszkiewicz, who arrived with a 250-man advance guard in July, this division will be made up of three brigades, including detachments from Ukraine (1,640), Spain (1,300), Bulgaria (500), Romania, Latvia, Slovakia, and Lithuania (around 100 each). Poland’s force will total 2,300. The Spanish will command one of the three Brigades, a predominantly Latin force supported by units from Honduras, the Dominion Republic and El Salvador. How have all these allied commitments slipped beneath the media radar? It’s hard not to suspect the widespread desire in many newsrooms to believe that an isolated Bush administration is losing a guerilla war in Iraq. |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #2 Multilateral = under French control |
| Posted by: Matt 2003-8-15 11:51:56 AM |
| #1 Thanks, Dar! A good source for information on our allies is Centcom: here I especially like the fact the the Macedonian Air Force is operating in Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2003-8-15 11:48:23 AM |