by my count over the past few weeks, the following countries have said they are pulling out their troops from iraq: kazakhstan, norway, spain, and honduras.
on top of that el salvador might pull out, and guatemala might follow. thailand is also considering pulling out
in australia the labour party promised to pull its forces out of iraq if it wins the upcoming election, and the opposition currently holds a 6 point lead in the polls (although that is a drop). similarly, the european commission president (an italian) said italy would pull out of iraq if his center-left party gained control of the country.
meanwhile, the bulgarians are reviewing the situation. the dutch parliament will debate its military's continuing presence in iraq, the ukrainian government is facing calls to withdraw
even among the countries who will remain in iraq (for the time being) the british say they won't send any more troops and south korea is scaling back its commitment to iraq by confining its troops' activities to military camps.
(thanks to the agonist for about half of the above links)
the heavy fighting over the last few days is just going to make this worse for the administration--it will both increase their need for additional troops to stabilize the country while encouraging even more countries to get out.
UPDATE: the new york times just posted a similar story to this post. copycats!
