Wednesday, January 06, 2010
American soldiers have been going it alone in Iraq since last summer, when the last partners of President George W. Bush’s “coalition of the willing” pulled out. But the name, Multinational Force Iraq, didn’t officially change until the New Year for the 130,000 troops still serving in the country, now under the title U.S. Force Iraq (or USF-I). Britain, America’s primary ally in the Iraq war, removed the last of its soldiers in July, following the departures of small contingents from Romania, Tonga, Kazakhstan and other nations.
From a tactical point-of-view, the new name brings with it a reorganization of U.S. troops in Iraq, merging five command groups, including Task Force 134, which is in charge of detainees, and the Army Corps of Engineers, into the USF-1.
One local interviewed by McClatchy Newspapers said the name of the coalition force mattered little to many Iraqis who “always called them the occupation forces.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
The 'Coalition of the Willing' in Iraq Becomes an Army of One (by Hannah Allam, McClatchy Newspapers)
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