Coalition force numbers in Iraq continue to shrink

The Ukrainians are long gone. So are the Norwegians. The Italians and South Koreans are getting ready to leave, and the Britons and Japanese could begin packing their bags later this year.

Slowly but steadily, US allies in Iraq are drawing down or pulling out as Iraqi forces take more responsibility for securing the country. By year's end, officials say, the coalition may shrink noticeably.

The continuing withdrawals and reductions will test the Iraqis' ability to tamp down attacks and rebuild, Anthony Cordesman of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said.

The UK, with about 8,000 troops in Iraq, is the US' most important coalition ally. Officials repeatedly have said they hope to begin bringing home some of those troops later this year, though Defense Secretary John Reid has played down recent reports that the UK has settled on a timetable for withdrawal.

On Tuesday, however, he made clear that "if things in Iraq continue to progress as they are, there will be significantly fewer British forces there by next year."

Poland's new president, Lech Kaczynski, said his country might keep its scaled-down contingent of 900 troops in Iraq into 2007.

But other countries have abandoned the coalition, shrinking the overall size of the force to 157,500, including the roughly 138,000 US troops.

The Pentagon says the US contingent itself has been cut to its lowest level since last summer, when a buildup for election security expanded the US force to about 160,000.

In the months after the March 2003 invasion, the multinational force peaked at about 300,000 soldiers from 38 nations -- 250,000 from the US, about 40,000 from the UK, and the rest ranging from 2,000 Australians to 70 Albanians.

Among the larger contributors to pull out of Iraq was Ukraine, which withdrew its last contingent of 876 troops in December.

Bulgaria also brought home its 380 infantry troops, and though it plans to send in 120 soldiers by mid-March to help guard a refugee camp north of Baghdad, those will be non-combat forces with limited rules of engagement.

Key coalition members such as South Korea and Italy will begin drawing down later this spring.

South Korean officials say they plan to bring home about 1,000 of their 3,270 troops in phases this year from their current base in the northern region of Irbil, where they help train Iraqi security forces and provide security for UN officials stationed in the area.

Although a timeframe and details have not been set, parliament in December approved the staged drawdown while extending the overall deployment to the end of the year.

The South Koreans have not engaged in combat with insurgents, but their deployment nonetheless has been highly unpopular back home.