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thedrifter
12-08-08, 08:29 AM
December 7, 2008


Troops exit Iraq as time runs out

Only 6 nations to stay after Dec. 31

BY ADAM ASHTON
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The Tongan marines left with a song, their vowel-rich war choruses echoing in the marble halls of a palace built for Saddam Hussein but now occupied by the U.S. military.

Fifty-five of them had spent the past four months guarding Camp Victory, a base that sits on a plush estate near the Baghdad airport. It was the fourth rotation in Iraq for the marines from the tiny Pacific island nation.

Their departure last week marks the exit of another member of the coalition of the willing, the 49 nations that signed on to support the war in Iraq since 2003.

Most of the remaining 18 countries are shutting down their operations swiftly and heading home before the United Nations mandate that allows them to deploy their forces in Iraq expires Dec. 31.

Departure ceremonies

The United States is holding ceremonies for each of them. It sent off the Tongans on Thursday, a contingent of Azerbaijanis on Wednesday and South Koreans on Monday.

U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Nicolas Matern, who is overseeing the drawdown, said the departures were a sign of progress, reflected by security improvements over the past year.

"It's the benefit of Iraqi sovereignty," he said. "They're affirming their sovereignty, and because of that, we can draw down."

The claims of improved security were dented, however, when the city of Fallujah was put on lockdown Thursday after two suicide bombings killed 15 people and wounded more than 100.

Some to remain

The Tongan marines, like the departing coalition troops of other countries, weren't asked to stay by the Iraqi government, an invitation that's necessary now that the UN mandate for the war is ending.

All but six nations -- the United States, Britain, Australia, El Salvador, Estonia and Romania -- will be gone by Jan. 1, Matern said.

The United States can stay past Dec. 31 because it brokered a security agreement that calls for a gradual withdrawal of its forces through 2011.

Iraq's Presidency Council ratified the document Thursday, setting in motion a massive transition in authority from the United States to the Iraqi government by Jan. 1.

The five other Western countries remaining in Iraq won't have to negotiate those arrangements, said Abbas al-Bayati, a member of the Iraqi parliament's security and defense committee.

Instead, Iraq is treating about 5,500 troops from those countries as advisers who will help train Iraqi forces and lead humanitarian missions.
Additional Facts
Shrinking coalition


12 coalition members and their departure dates:


Bosnia and Herzegovina: Nov. 29


South Korea: Dec. 1


Azerbaijan: Dec. 3


Tonga: Dec. 4


Japan: Dec. 6


Ukraine: Dec. 9


Czech Republic: Dec. 10


Bulgaria: Dec. 13


Lithuania: Dec. 16


Denmark: Dec. 17

Ellie