the "hands off" policy of france, germany, and the countries that had opposed the war seemed to them to be justified by the failure to return stability to iraq following the toppling of saddam hussein. further defections from the pro-u.s. camp took place in 2006. elections in italy in may 2006 brought to power a coalition called the union. the new prime minister, romano prodi, used his first speech in parliament following his victory to issue a harsh criticism of the war in iraq. he referred to it as a "grave error" that could ignite war across the middle east. prodi announced his intention to withdraw italy's commitment of 2,700 troops in iraq. this, together with the substantial cutting down of the polish contingent in iraq, left the united states with its british allies almost alone in attempting to maintain their commitments in iraq.