Washington Times/UPI
Jan 27 2005
Bush Administration scraps its “coalition of the willing” list
A White House official on Jan. 21 confirmed that the Bush
administration has quietly scrapped its 45-member “coalition of the
willing” list of Iraq allies, replacing it with a smaller roster of
28 countries with troops in Iraq sometime after the June transfer of
power to an interim Iraqi government. The administration might have
acted hastily, as one plucky nation is actually sending troops into
Iraq rather than withdrawing forces. Armenia has sent a 46-member
military contingent in advance of the Jan. 30 elections. The Armenian
Defense Ministry reported that the servicemen would serve within the
Polish military contingent for six months, until after the nation’s
Constituent Assembly meets. Erevan moved quickly to deploy its
forces, as the decision to dispatch officers to Iraq was adopted by
the Armenian parliament only on Dec. 24.