More disaster from the clowns who told you that the United Nations was irrelevant. More disaster from the clowns who felt a pretend "coalition"--Palau? Macedonia? Eritrea? The Solomon fucking Islands?--was at least as good as a real one. Idiots.
WASHINGTON, July 30 - With the demands of the presidential campaign adding new urgency to the search for a strategy to exit Iraq, American officials are facing many complications in holding together the coalition of countries they persuaded to support the war.
The kidnappings and executions of foreign workers, and the decision by some companies and several countries to leave the American-led forces, have compounded the burdens on the 140,000 American troops there and the diplomatic pressures on Bush administration officials intent on staying the course.
For the first time, administration officials are acknowledging the delicate nature of their "coalition of the willing" - the group of some 30 nations that lent their names and limited numbers of troops to the occupying force built mainly of American and British forces. The multinational force, which the administration stitched together as traditional NATO allies balked, is increasingly tattered.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell acknowledged his dismay this week over the erosion of support, signaled most recently by the Philippines' decision to withdraw its troops and moves by Ukraine, with its 1,600 soldiers, to follow suit. Four other nations have withdrawn from the country - Spain, with 1,300 troops, and the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras, with nominal representations.
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Such disarray in the face of a violent insurgency has placed President Bush on the defensive over what his campaign aides say is his signature strength- military leadership and fighting terrorism. Speaking in Springfield, Mo., Mr. Bush said that the United States will deliver on its commitments to help rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan and continue to take the fight to terrorists around the world. There will be no "hoping for the best," or relying on other countries for self-defense, he said, with clear reference to Senator John Kerry's acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention on Thursday.
No, George, with you in office, there really is no hoping for the best. It's mostly expecting the worst.
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