A PATCHWORK OF SUPPORT

Of the 30-odd responses, about half didn't quite conform to our strict rules. Only troops actually on the ground within Iraq's borders count, which excludes nations that have promised to send peacekeepers next month or this fall. So, our apologies to the reportedly soon-to-arrive forces from Georgia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Mongolia, Ukraine, and elsewhere. And we're looking for more-or-less exact figures of verifiable authenticity, so sketchy tips about South African mercenaries, alas, had to be disregarded.

Finnish reader Kerkko Paananen noted that Explainer gave short shrift to 43 Estonian soldiers who are serving under Centcom's operative command. That includes 32 infantrymen on patrol in Baghdad's Abu Ghuraybi district and 11 logistics specialists at the U.S. Air Force base in Talil. Paananen went the extra yard by adding that the Baghdad-based Estonians are outfitted with Galil SAR automatic rifles, MG-3 machine guns, Carl-Gustav and AT4 mortars, Browning pistols, and hand grenades.

Another reader pointed out that 28 Macedonian troops are among the peacekeepers, having arrived in the Taji (about 30 kilometers north of Baghdad) in early June. No word on specifically what sidearms they'll be brandishing, though the Web site does note that the Macedonians will be tooling around in several Hummers.

Read it all - it gets weirder.