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SALVADORANS REMAIN AS THE REIGN IN SPAIN PUTS REGION'S TROOPS ON THE PLANE.

Article Excerpt
Honduras has become the first Latin American country to follow Spain out of Iraq, but will be the second Central American country to leave. Nicaragua was first; it repatriated its troops on March 1. But State Department spokesman and Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher did not know that when he told reporters that both El Salvador and Nicaragua "are staying put."

Boucher's error goes directly to, and undermines, an issue brought up in President George W. Bush's April 13 press conference. Answering a reporter's suggestion that the small number of troops in his coalition "is proof [to opponents] that your coalition is window dressing," Bush responded, "I don't think people ought to demean the contributions of our friends into Iraq. People are sacrificing their lives in Iraq, from different countries. We ought to honor that, and we ought to welcome that. I'm proud of the coalition that is there. This is a--these are people that have--the gut leaders have made the decision to put people in harm's way for the good of the world. And we appreciate that sacrifice in America. We appreciate that commitment."

It is now evident that the US State Department doesn't know who is there making those...

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