"What the caterpillar calls the end of life, wise men call a butterfly."

Of the 36-nation coalition led by the United States in the Iraq war, only 32 remain. Not that it makes much difference in the total number of troops over there, but it does erode the Bush position that this continues to be an international effort.

Thailand, Norway, New Zealand and the Philippines are getting ready to leave as well. Do you wonder how many countries will be left by November?

What's interesting about this story isn't that the countries leaving are pulling out combat troops - they're not. These countries are pulling out the engineers that Iraq desperately needs to rebuild its infrastructure.

Not to worry, though. The Bushies have Halliburton in place to take care of all that - spending US taxpayer dollars in no-bid contracts...

Anyone smell a rat?