U.S.-Led Iraq Coalition Withering Fast

From AP

Britain's decision to bring half of its 5,000 soldiers home from Iraq by spring is the latest blow to the U.S.-led coalition. The alliance is crumbling, and fast: excluding Americans, the multinational force was once 50,000 strong — by mid-2008, it will be down to 7,000.

This would be an interesting point for the Dem candidates to start hitting on. We were once, vaguely, an international coalition if the multinational force was really 50,000 strong (I'd like to know how many of them were combat forces), but if we're down from 50,000 to 7,000 (and remember, the Icelander was a press guy), then what was once a vaguely putatively international force, a maybe international coalition, is no more. It's now us. Going it alone. And I don't think the American people will react well to us going it alone, again, still. We were sold this war, partly, based on the "fact" that there was a "coalition of the willing" behind us. Now there isn't.