Britain's decision to bring half of its 5,000 troops home from Iraq by spring is the latest blow to the U.S.-led coalition - but it's not the only one.

The alliance is crumbling, and fast: Half a dozen other members are withdrawing troops or intend to. By mid-2008, excluding Americans, there will be about 7,000 troops in the multinational force, down from a peak of about 50,000 at the start of the war in 2003.

American troops are stretched thin trying to contain extremists. But defense experts say the shrunken coalition won't make much of a difference because non-U.S. forces have stuck to limited rules of engagement.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Oct. 8 that Britain will halve its remaining force of 5,000 next spring, and another official said there were no guarantees that any British troops would remain in Iraq beyond the end of 2008.

The latest troop pullouts include Denmark, which withdrew its 460-member contingent from the city of Basra in August and replaced it with a small helicopter unit.

Latvia also withdrew all but 15 of its 125 personnel, and Lithuania brought home its 50 troops.

But the coalition will soon fragment further. El Salvador cut its contingent from 380 to 300 in August, and it expects to draw down further if the situation in Iraq improves.

Georgia said last month it will slash its contribution from 2,000 personnel to around 300 by next summer. And the foreign minister of the Czech Republic said Oct. 7 his country was working on a plan to gradually withdraw its 100 troops, who guard a British base in southern Iraq.