IRAQ: Good-bye Tonga
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When the commander of the Tonga Defense Services, Brig. Gen. Tau’aika ‘Uta’atu, gave his farewell address to U.S. forces Thursday at a ceremony marking the official end of Tonga’s mission in Iraq, he gave thanks that none of the more than 200 Tongan troops who had deployed here had been killed or wounded.
‘We answered our call ... without hesitation when we were asked to join the coalition of the willing,’ said the general, before his 55-man contingent delivered a rousing and touching performance of traditional Polynesian war chants and gentle songs of good-bye.
The Tongans, who sent their first troops to deadly Anbar province in the summer of 2004, are the latest in a long line of less-recognized coalition members to end their Iraq missions in recent weeks. Among others: the Bosnians, Czechs, South Koreans, Macedonians, Latvians and Azerbaijanis.
Unlike those from the kingdom of Tonga, many of the small contingents have not been so lucky and have suffered casualties that often go unnoticed amid the focus on insurgent violence against Iraqis and against the biggest coalition members: the United States and Britain. The United States has lost at least 4,209 troops in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003, according to www.icasualties.org. The latest occurred Thursday when a bomber attacked an American target in the northern city of Mosul. British troops have suffered at least 177 deaths.
But Azerbaijan, whose 150 troops also ended their deployment this week, lost a soldier in the war, as did Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea and the Czech Republic. Other small contingents suffered far greater losses. They include: 33 Italians, 13 Bulgarians, 18 Ukrainians, five Georgians, two Estonians, three Latvians. The list is far from complete -- in all, at least 137 troops representing countries other than the United States and Britain lost their lives in Iraq. See the full list here.
As of Jan. 1, 2009, any countries that want to maintain soldiers in Iraq need to work out an agreement with the Iraqi government, because the United Nations mandate governing the current coalition presence expires at the end of the year. Only four countries other than the United States and Britain are expected to maintain a presence here, leaving Iraqi security forces more in charge than they have been since the American invasion.
--Tina Susman in Baghdad
