A coalition of one
American forces are on their own as outsiders in Iraq
BAGHDAD – The British said cheerio back in July, around the same time the Romanians cleared out “Camp Dracula,” their compound on a U.S. base in southern Iraq. Tonga and Kazakhstan left ages ago, and no one seems to remember if any Icelandic forces ever made it to Iraq.
It doesn’t matter now, anyway, because as of today, former president George W. Bush’s “coalition of the willing” formally ceases to exist, leaving only the U.S. military’s 130,000 or so forces to shepherd their Iraqi counterparts through a volatile election season before a full American troop withdrawal that’s expected by the end of 2011.
U.S. commanders will officially disband the Multinational Force Iraq, or MNF-I, and introduce the USF-I, or U.S. Force Iraq, at a ceremony today in Baghdad. American soldiers and officers said the transition is largely a formality because they have been going it alone since the summer.
Iraqis also said the change barely registers. To them, there never has been a question that Americans were in charge for these tumultuous past six years.
“There’s no difference, even if they change the name,” said Mohammed Abdul Jabar, 40, a furniture salesman in Baghdad. “The main enemy, the ones who destroyed the country, who disbanded our military, it’s the Americans. If I see a fighter jet loaded with missiles, do I wonder whose it is? No, it’s always been the Americans.”
American officials spin the disbanding of the coalition differently, saying the end of the MNF-I brings Iraqis one step closer to regaining real sovereignty, “a new era in Operation Iraqi Freedom,” as one news release put it. On the lack of sovereignty, Iraqis agree. The name change is another matter.
In several street interviews, Iraqis of different backgrounds were asked how many members of the coalition they could name besides the U.S. and Britain. Some correctly identified the Italians (3,200 troops) and the Australians (2,000 troops). Others confidently named France, which refused to join.
“Coalition? Well, truthfully, we always called them the occupation forces,” said Yousra Abdul Zahra, 47, whose son lives away from home because the family still can’t tell its neighbors that he works as a translator for the U.S. military. “But I do worry that if they leave, what happens to my son? As a mother, I’m scared.”
For the military, the name change also brings some structural tweaks. USF-I will bring five command groups under a single headquarters, streamlining some operations and shrinking the American footprint.
That might be the easy part. Getting soldiers to use “USF-I” instead of “MNF-I” is trickier.
The U.S. military is staking its claim to the new acronym through a Twitter account and a Facebook page. One military-affiliated group already produces a USF-I T-shirt printed with the slogan, “Return with Honor,” and it’s probably only a matter of weeks before base commissaries are stocked with souvenir USF-I battle coins and uniform patches.
For now, however, a Google search of “USFI” turns up the Unmarried and Separated Fathers of Ireland and the United Secretariat of the Fourth International, a revolutionary socialist group.