'We Didn't Realize We Were At War'.

The trio of suicide bombers were determined to reach their target--the Italian military compound in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriya. They were in two vehicles--a car loaded with explosives and a tanker truck apparently full of gaso-line. For once, though, the terrorists didn't catch their prey off guard. As the bombers crashed through the compound's front gate, carabinieri guards immediately opened fire. Their quick action probably saved scores of lives. After a brief fire fight, the attackers detonated their vehicles in the compound's parking lot. As it was, 19 Italians died--the country's biggest military loss since World War II, and the worst single loss the American-led Coalition has yet suffered. Fourteen Iraqis were also killed. Back home, Italians were stunned by the news; most hadn't even known their troops were in harm's way. Said Fabrizio Cicchitto, an adviser to prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, "Until today, many of us did not realize we were a country at war."

That somber sentiment surely ran through many of the 31 countries that have sent soldiers, engineers, police or other personnel to Iraq to assist the U.S.- and British-led reconstruction effort. And it may have scared off other potential contributors to the cause. Because major U.S. allies Germany and France have not joined the Coalition, the Bush administration has turned to an odd assortment of mostly smaller countries for help. In all, those nations have sent only about 15,000 soldiers to Iraq. Spain and the Netherlands have modest military units in the country; Poland (more than 2,000 troops) commands a multinational force. For countries such as El Salvador (360 troops), Lithuania (90 troops) and Kazakhstan (27 troops), it has been their first foreign military mission. Helmeted Mongolians have set foot in Iraq for the first time since Genghis Khan. Meantime, countries the United States had hoped would send significant forces, such as Turkey, Pakistan and India, have declined to do so.

Many of the leaders who joined the Coalition did so reluctantly, knowing their involvement would be unpopular with their people. So they set conditions on their deployment, often insisting that their troops be kept away from violent areas. Berlusconi had originally promised his skeptical countrymen that he was only sending troops on a humanitarian mission. In fact, most of the 2,400 Italians in Nasiriya were actual-ly policemen, the paramilitary carabinieri. Now that it's clear Iraqi insurgents don't draw much of a distinction between Americans and their allies, these leaders have good reason to question the wisdom of their deployments, however minor.

Despite the restrictions and small numbers, the Coalition partners have made a difference. They've helped to free up thousands of U.S. troops for frontline work--and allowed George W. Bush and Tony Blair to claim with some validity that the nation-building effort is international. The ...