Iraq and Afghanistan

Kristof in today's op-ed piece takes aim at the Administration's campaign claim that it has the support of many countries in Iraq. Thirty countries have soldiers in Iraq now, although this number will be down to 27 by next month. Eight of our partners have less than one hundred soldiers involved. To get a feeling for what was going on, Kristof talked to the Estonians in the government and outside. He found that they do not intend to increase their force above the 55 they have there now. The major reason is that the population is very opposed to the war. They allow the mission only because they feel it is an insurance policy in case Russia threatens them again. Kristof's belief is that except for Blair's British support this is pretty much the case in the rest of the Coalition. They are just making a show in support of a cause they do not believe in. In fact, many Estonians think the Americans are as bad as the Russians, but better for them because further away.