It's all very easy at times to forget that when the proper instruments of international arbitration were sidelined (UN) and systematically delegitamized (IAEA) in the lead-up to the illegal war on aggression on Iraq in 2003 the subsequent classified occupying power still being the USA, there was assembled a motley crew of states termed the "coalition of the willing".
17 of that group withdrew their troops. But plucky little El Salvador which sent 360 soldiers at the beginning will deploy its 10th contigent of 200 next week - according to a Radio broadcast today by presidente Elías Antonio Saca.
17 of that group withdrew their troops. But plucky little El Salvador which sent 360 soldiers at the beginning will deploy its 10th contigent of 200 next week - according to a Radio broadcast today by presidente Elías Antonio Saca.
The minister of Defence of El Salvador reckoned that's enough reduction to be getting on with. But both VIP El Salvadorians confirmed that the rest of the coalition of the willing are ready to hand over control to the Iraqis as soon as they are ready to have control handed over to them.
Incredible isn't it?
El Salvador had its own little surge when its initial 360 soldiers were felt to be insufficient to the need to reconstruct Iraq, as we remember it was called then, and so they briefly sent another 20 lucky boys and girls to serve the El Salvadorian flag just around the first time redesigning the Iraqi flag was on the agenda.
In total there are have been 10 deployments, 5 deaths and 20 wounded El Salvadorian soldiers.
By the way if you're into military signal trivia, these El Salvadorian troops take orders from Polish officers being under Polish command (Central South Iraq), based at Camp Delta in Kut.
Now they could get around the obvious problems with that several ways : the El Salvadorians could learn Polish, the Polish could learn Spanish, the Polish could learn English and hope the Salvadorians understand it, the Salvadorians could learn English and hope the Polish understand it - or they could forget the communication thing & just drive with guns either side of convoys every day at a cheaper hourly rate than English speaking Mercenaries.
Some people think giving the El Salvadorian army something useful to do(like cutting costs in convoy protection in Iraq whilst also giving Bush a veneer of international concern) means that the army is kept away from using its almost exclusively US supplied ordinance, gadgets and gizmos on their own El Salvadorian people. You get paranoid types everywhere - obviously who can't get over the past & keep wanting to go on about it. For their part the __ Salvadorian army (the "El" is not used and is considered ignorant) remind the world that with a similar population size to Israel it only makes sense they model themselves on the IDF. Very curious little idea that one considering that their current expenditure as % of GDP is positioned 103rd globally.
wiki links for your pub quiz :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_federations_by_military_expenditures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_El_Salvador
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_force_in_Iraq
other press link from TeleSur :
http://www.telesurtv.net/noticias/secciones/nota/30894-NN/el-salvador-mantendra-tropas-en-irak-hasta-que-autoridades-locales-controlen-la-situacion/
Incredible isn't it?
El Salvador had its own little surge when its initial 360 soldiers were felt to be insufficient to the need to reconstruct Iraq, as we remember it was called then, and so they briefly sent another 20 lucky boys and girls to serve the El Salvadorian flag just around the first time redesigning the Iraqi flag was on the agenda.
In total there are have been 10 deployments, 5 deaths and 20 wounded El Salvadorian soldiers.
By the way if you're into military signal trivia, these El Salvadorian troops take orders from Polish officers being under Polish command (Central South Iraq), based at Camp Delta in Kut.
Now they could get around the obvious problems with that several ways : the El Salvadorians could learn Polish, the Polish could learn Spanish, the Polish could learn English and hope the Salvadorians understand it, the Salvadorians could learn English and hope the Polish understand it - or they could forget the communication thing & just drive with guns either side of convoys every day at a cheaper hourly rate than English speaking Mercenaries.
Some people think giving the El Salvadorian army something useful to do(like cutting costs in convoy protection in Iraq whilst also giving Bush a veneer of international concern) means that the army is kept away from using its almost exclusively US supplied ordinance, gadgets and gizmos on their own El Salvadorian people. You get paranoid types everywhere - obviously who can't get over the past & keep wanting to go on about it. For their part the __ Salvadorian army (the "El" is not used and is considered ignorant) remind the world that with a similar population size to Israel it only makes sense they model themselves on the IDF. Very curious little idea that one considering that their current expenditure as % of GDP is positioned 103rd globally.
wiki links for your pub quiz :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_federations_by_military_expenditures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_El_Salvador http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_force_in_Iraq other press link from TeleSur :
http://www.telesurtv.net/noticias/secciones/nota/30894-NN/el-salvador-mantendra-tropas-en-irak-hasta-que-autoridades-locales-controlen-la-situacion/ 
