Iraq violence tests coalition unity

Growing number of hostage-takings and increased violence on the ground is shaking the coalition of the willing in Iraq.

When the United States went to war a year ago, a key selling point was that it would be an international effort. If even some of the 40-plus countries now offering military and humanitarian assistance pull back, it could prove a profound setback to US efforts to restore calm - as well as American intentions to hand political power to Iraqis by the end of June.

The majority of coalition members have sent small numbers of troops, support personnel, or humanitarian workers to help in the war. Most have reiterated their commitment to holding firm. But as the fighting escalated steeply in recent days, many seemed to be withdrawing from the fight, rethinking their position, or simply hunkering down in a defensive posture.

• Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has vowed to keep his nearly 550 noncombat troops in Iraq, but the taking of three hostages last week - still being held at this writing - has shaken public support for the deployment, the first of its kind in postwar Japan.

• Opposition members in Ukraine have called for the withdrawal of troops after fierce fighting last week killed one soldier and forced a withdrawal from the southern city of Kut. US forces regained control of Kut over the weekend.

• Thailand, with 443 troops in Karbala, said it would remain, but reserved the right to reconsider.

• The newly elected Socialist government in Spain has vowed to withdraw that country's 1,300 troops from Iraq unless the United Nations takes control of security and reconstruction.

The result could be an even more exclusively US operation. The loss of coalition allies could also portend deeper reliance on "mercenaries" - civilian contractors some members of Congress want to control better.

"It has gotten very lonely in Iraq," says retired Air Force Col. Sam Gardiner, referring not only to other countries who have sent troops and support personnel but also to local members of the coalition.

"Iraqi security forces were supposed to be the main element of the coalition. Where have they been? The new Iraqi Army was at Falluja, but it did not, or would not, go into the city. Police disappeared; some even joined the Sadr militia," says Colonel Gardiner.

Several members of the Iraqi Governing Council, upset at what they see as the heavy-handed US response to insurgent activities, have threatened to leave the council. This could undermine the US plan for council members to form the beginnings of a new government when sovereignty is turned over on June 30.

In an unofficial way, the coalition includes many of Iraq's neighbors.

"Although their support is muted and often limited to allowing logistics operations to flow through their countries, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and even Syria plus the Gulf States are all providing significant support to the US-coalition operation in Iraq," says retired Navy Capt. Larry Seaquist, a former Pentagon

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