Coalition of the "Willing"

US troops in Iraq get the chance to complain to Rumsfeld over the issues they face in Iraq. Soldiers listed such "non-issues" as lack of body and vehicle armor and extended deployments. Now there are reports that US soldiers were forced to look through dumps and Iraqi landfills for pieces of ballistic glass and scrap metal just to try to protect themselves. Excellent way to support the troops. [Yahoo] [CNN] [NYT]

Nicholas Kristof tries to recruit more troops for Iraq from our coalition of the "willing." The tiny country of Estonia currently has 55 troops in Iraq. By the basis of their understanding, Estonia has sent 55 soldiers to Iraq, therefore, if Estonia should come under attack or invasion from Russia, the US is expected to "get their back."
"And that's the problem with our coalition: it's mostly made up of leaders counting on rewards, rather than of nations that are really behind us." [NYT]
By the way, eight of our "partners" have fewer than 100 soldiers in Iraq.