The occupation of Iraq is about to become unequivocally our own. It no longer will be possible even to pretend that we have a coalition. As explained by the New York Times:
Commanders of the Multi-National Force-Iraq, as the American-led coalition is formally called, have a looming nomenclature problem.
Two days from now, there will no longer be any other nations with troops in Iraq — no "multi" in the Multi-National Force. As Iraqi forces have increasingly taken the lead, the United States is the last of the "coalition of the willing" that the Bush administration first brought together in 2003.
That is partly because the Iraqi Parliament left suddenly for summer recess without voting to extend an agreement for the British military to keep a residual training force of 100 soldiers in Iraq. As a result, those troops must withdraw to Kuwait by Friday, according to a British diplomat, who declined to be identified in keeping with his government’s practice.
The Romanians left, last week. The Australians will be gone by the end of this month. Even the tiny remaining British contingent has been sent packing. That's it. No one else wants to play, anymore. The death and destruction and chaos and political morass just isn't fun anymore. We're on our own. And things aren't getting better. And things won't be getting better. And we're still not getting along with those living under our occupation. And civilians are still dying.
Iraq's prime minister has been dropping hints that he may want us to stay. Our president says we're on schedule to get out. But what that means remains unclear. The only thing we know for certain is that by the end of this month, we will be the only nation occupying Iraq. A coalition of one.