Iraq's strained coalition - Leaving Your Wack Show

• The Italian government, hitherto one of Washington's staunchest allies on Iraq, has now joined the list of those bowing to domestic pressures and announcing an exit strategy from the country.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said his country would begin pulling its more than 3,000 troops troops out in September. Mr Berlusconi qualified his remarks by saying the process of withdrawal would depend on how Iraqi security forces develop. But, with another two key allies, the Netherlands and Ukraine, in the throes of their own withdrawals, the Italian announcement adds to the impression that the much-vaunted coalition in Iraq is unravelling. A batch of Dutch troops arrived home on Monday. The Ukrainians will be withdrawn by October. The Ukrainian presence has totalled some 1,600 troops, the Dutch about 1,400. Bulgaria, too, has now said it is looking at pulling its 450 troops out by the end of the year. As well as the Americans with their 150,000 or so troops, just over two dozen countries have been contributing about 25,000 personnel to the US-led military coalition in Iraq. The largest foreign contributor after the US has always been the UK, with about 8,000 troops. Some of the contributions have been token in military terms - Norway has a force of just 10, Moldova a dozen. But they have still been an important practical and, even more, a political prop for Washington. [more] and [more]