Fighting between coalition forces and Shiite Muslim militiamen across a wide swath south of Baghdad presents a major test of the resolve of America's partners to stay the course in Iraq.
The mounting unrest, triggered by the US crackdown on firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, will also test the American strategy of avoiding traditional alliances and international institutions in favor of "coalitions of the willing" in a military conflict.
Washington's inability to bring along its major partners in the NATO alliance into the Iraq conflict means the US has no ready pool of well-trained reinforcements -- apart from its own troops -- in case the Pentagon decides more forces are necessary to maintain order.
Instead of binding treaty obligations, Washington will have to rely on arm-twisting and powers of persuasion to hold on to its coalition partners, some of whom face pressure to send their troops home.
Since violence erupted on Sunday in Shiite areas south of Baghdad, coalition soldiers from Europe and Latin America have come under armed attack after months in which the Americans have born the brunt of the fighting -- and the casualties.
By Tuesday night, the toll from the Shiite fighting included three dead -- one soldier from El Salvador, another from Ukraine and a civilian truck driver from Bulgaria. At least 12 Italians, five Ukrainians, three Bulgarians and two Poles have been wounded.
Those numbers pale alongside American losses -- 417 battle deaths and about 3,000 wounded since the war started in March last year.
However, coalition partner losses are significant in smaller countries where support for the war has never been as strong as in the US, Britain or Australia.
Since the explosion in the Shiite areas, none of the coalition partners have spoken of abandoning the mission.
Before the flareup, however, the incoming Spanish government announced it will withdraw its 1,300 troops unless the UN takes over the mission by June 30, when Washington returns power to a new Iraqi government.
"Fleeing from the mission in Iraq is unthinkable," Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Tuesday.
However, signs of trouble are emerging.
The Dutch government, for example, favors keeping its 1,300 soldiers in Iraq after their tour ends on July 1. On Tuesday, however, several leading Dutch politicians called for a parliamentary debate on Iraq next week.
"It's not a foregone conclusion that we'll stay in Iraq," one of them, Boris Dittrich, said.
In Norway, an opinion poll released last week showed that 51.2 percent of the 1,505 people surveyed wanted the country's 150 troops home. The margin of error was 5 percent.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS