How many troops do Mexico and Canada have fighting in Iraq alongside
the United States?

Hi 4103:

The short answer to your question is "none". Neither Canada nor Mexico
are among the "Coalition of the Willing".


However, there have been reports in the last cfew days of Canadian
soldiers on exchange programs with U.S., British, and Australian
forces who are currently in Iraq. The Canadian government assures that
while they are in combat zones, they are "not in combat themselves".

For more details, see:

Canadian troops in Iraq, Ottawa concedes
URL: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1049151785502&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968705899037
Quote: "About 31 Canadian officers are serving on exchange with
British, Australian or American forces. A handful are in the war zone,
some aboard AWACs command-and-control aircraft, others in command
posts at or near the front."


I hope this information helps with your research.             
             
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websearcher-ga              
             
             
Search Strategy (on Google News):              

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Request for Answer Clarification by 4103-ga on 31 Mar 2003 20:11 PST

Dear Websearcher --

This answer is entirely unacceptable!  Do Mexico and Canada not
appreciate the multiple invasions by the United States?  Are they as
unappeciative as the French?

It's time to perform the following:
1.  Change the name of a state to 'New Freedom'
2.  Make sure that we're all eating 'Freedom Bacon' and not that
Canadian stuff
3.  DEMAND that they rename the ginger ale to 'Freedom Dry'

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Clarification of Answer by websearcher-ga on 31 Mar 2003 20:16 PST

Whatever you do, PLEASE don't send Celine Dion back!!!!!

We DON'T want her. 

websearcher-ga

Sadly... none

Some thoughts (mostly from Ted Rall):

Why do we hate France?
Doesn't Congress have better things to do than renaming fried
potatoes?
These so-called policymakers have turned an honest disagreement
between two historical allies into a testosterone-charged game of
tit-for-tat.

France calmly comments- "French fries were invented in Belgium"

The trouble began when President Jacques Chirac openly expressed the
private beliefs of virtually every other world leader--that George W.
Bush's desire to start an unprovoked war with Iraq is both crazy and
immoral. It has quickly disintegrated into a ferocious display of
American nativism that would be hilarious if its gleeful idiocy wasn't
so frightening.

Every American schoolchild learns that a French naval blockade trapped
Cornwallis' forces at Yorktown, bringing the American revolution to
its victorious conclusion. But fewer people are aware that King Louis
XVI spent so much money on arms shipments to American rebels that he
bankrupted the royal treasury, plunged his nation into depression and
unleashed a political upheaval that ultimately resulted in the end of
the monarchy. Franklin Roosevelt wrote some fat checks to save France;
Louis gave up his and his wife's heads to save America.

No two countries were closer during the 19th century. Americans named
streets after the Marquis de la Fayette, Louis' liaison with the
founding fathers. During the Civil War, France bankrolled the Union to
neutralize British financing for the Confederacy. How many Americans
remember that the Statue of Liberty was a gift from French
schoolchildren?

Despite that long friendship, the French remain one of the few groups
Americans still feel free to openly insult. A recent Gallup poll shows
that 20 percent fewer Americans view France favorably because of its
unwillingness to go along with Bush's war on Iraq. Support for
Germany, perpetrators of Nazism and the Holocaust (and which also
opposes war), holds steady at 71 percent.

French-bashing is a nasty symptom of an underlying American
predilection for anti-intellectualism.

The fact is, France is a good friend and ally trying to make us see
reason, and it doesn't deserve to be treated this shabbily. The United
States, as led by Bush and his goons, is like a belligerent,
out-of-control drunk trying to pick a fight and demanding the car keys
at the same time. The French want to drive us home before we cause any
more trouble, so we lash out at them, calling them rude names and
impugning their loyalty. Sure, we'll be ashamed of our behavior in the
morning, after the madness wears off. But will we have any friends
left?

In my opinion, you received a very poorly researched answer to this
question.  While it is true that Canada is not part of the “Coalition
of the Willing”, it should be noted that Canada has done and is doing
far more to aid the U.S. war effort than the vast majority of nations
on this list.

Canada has several naval ships patrolling in the gulf, the
aforementioned exchange troops, and also has some AWACS crews serving
in the war.  It should also be noted that Canada is getting ready to
deploy 2000 troops to Afghanistan, freeing up some U.S. troops for
Iraq.

(Source: http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030331/COSANDERS/TPComment/TopStories)

I think Americans should take Canada’s non-participation in the
“Coalition of the Willing” with a grain of salt, since even if Canada
WAS in this coalition, our military contribution would be almost
identical to what it already is.

Do Americans really think that Canada’s official endorsement of their
every action is necessary to retain relations between the two
countries?