SUPPORT THE TROOP. Spencer Ackerman set about trying to count how many nations are represented in Iraq, after Bush claimed there were 36 countries with troops on the ground. The Post figured it to be 25. Ackerman says it's 34:
The State Department's last weekly Iraq update lists six non-MNF-I NATO countries on the ground (sorta) in Iraq: Slovenia, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Iceland and Portugal. It says there are seven, however, and judging from CRS, State may be forgetting Hungary. (For shame!) If so, that gets us to the magic number of 34 countries on the ground in Iraq. (Alas, GlobalSecurity.org casts doubt on whether the Hungarians made it over there.) We're almost to 36, Mr. President!
But wait, no! Upon closer inspection, he finds that Iceland is pulling its troops out next month, according to the Iceland Review:
Foreign Minister Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir has decided to remove an Icelandic Crisis Response Unit (ICRU) member from a NATO training program for the Iraqi army in Baghdad next month, causing disappointment among NATO leaders.
The ICRU member has been working in Baghdad for the last two years, primarily as a media representative, and will cease working there October 1, Morgunbladid reports.
Yup, member. As in, one person. Also, he's not a soldier, but rather a public information officer. And Iceland doesn't have an army, so to count this guy as "troops" would be … misleading. I'm going to go with that word for it.
--Kate Sheppard
