Today has been a tough day for Bush's coalition of the willing. To begin with, the AP's Rukmini Callimachi reports that the Iraqi invasion's ideological father, Richard Perle, was not welcome in "Little Beirut."

Howard Dean, the newly minted leader of the Democratic Party, and former Pentagon adviser Richard Perle made clear their opposing views on the war in Iraq during a debate marred by a protester who tossed a shoe at Perle.

Perle had just started his comments Thursday when a protester threw a shoe at him before being dragged away, screaming, "Liar! Liar!"

Perle, a Pentagon official during the Reagan administration, was more recently chairman of the Defense Policy Board, a group of non-government experts who advise the defense secretary. He was a major proponent of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, while Dean was among the war's most prominent opponents.

As Austin Powers asked, Who throws a shoe? Honestly!

On a macro level, things aren't going well for the coalition either. The AP's Deb Riechmann has the story President Bush doesn't want you to hear.

Sometimes it's hard to know who your friends are — even if they're helping you fight a war. President Bush, who hopes to coax more Iraq support from European allies next week, used to boast that some 50 nations had joined the United States in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Today, a public listing is nowhere to be found.

One thing, though, is clear: The coalition is shrinking. "I expect to see the coalition countries begin paring down their forces as they complete their contributions," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told the House Armed Services Committee this week.

While a current list of coalition countries — those helping out in Iraq with troops, equipment, monetary or political support — is not easy to come by, there is a public listing of the countries that have actual troops in Iraq. These 20-plus countries, which have combat and support forces in Iraq under the command of Gen. George Casey Jr., make up the multinational force.

Daniel Goure, a Defense Department official in the first Bush administration, said current Bush officials apparently decided to start talking about a "multinational force" instead of a "coalition" to avoid questions about which countries were in or out.

Why does this type of news always come out on a Friday afternoon...