Ya know, I saw Costa Rica's name on the list of Coalition members a few weeks back when there were reports that the size of the coalition had drastically shrunk. "Strange," I thought to myself at the time. "If I remember my Costa Rican history properly, they eschewed having a military sometime in the '40's in order to provide universal education to their children."

I didn't think much about it further until I came across this bit over at "a relative path". Double-checking the history I learned on vacation a few years back with the CIA World Fact Book confirmed what I remember our tour guide telling us. Costa Rica has no military branches. What was the USG thinking when they included them on the list of Coalition members? Perhaps that Costa Rica could lend the assistance of a few highly educated school kids to guide the troops into battle? That perhaps the cuddly, but fiesty, coati might make substitutes for intelligence drones?

Man - I wish I had blogged this when I first read about it. I could have scooped the AP story!