All Intensive Purposes

Japan is the latest country to withdraw its forces from Iraq. Fear not for our soldiers over there, though, since the Japanese haven't been doing much fighting:

Analysts say only the UK provided a sizeable military force that actually made a difference in operational capability. Contributions from most other countries had more meaning in terms of political support for the US when the Bush administration failed to win enough backing for a second resolution at the UN.

Guy Dinmore and David Pilling, "Iraq gets 'coalition of the reluctant' as allies retreat," Financial Times 7 (June 20, 2006).