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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Polish Leader Affirms Commitment in Iraq |
| 2004-03-19 |
| President Aleksander Kwasniewski told President Bush on Friday that Polish troops will stay in Iraq ``as long as needed, plus one day longer,'' his national security adviser said. I knew the Poles had balls. The comments came one day after Kwasniewski said Polish troops might leave Iraq months earlier than planned and that Poland had been ``misled'' by intelligence concerning Iraq's suspected weapons of mass destruction arsenal. That's how the press quoted him. Kwasniewski pledged to keep the troops in Iraq during a phone call from Bush marking the anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the adviser, Marek Siwiec, told reporters. Siwiec said Bush thanked Kwasniewski for Poland's military involvement in Iraq. Poland commands a multinational force of some 9,500 troops - including 2,400 of its own - in south-central Iraq. ``President Kwasniewski confirmed our further involvement in the Iraqi mission and that we will be there as long as needed, plus one day longer,'' Siwiec said. Nice to know who you can count on. The White House moved quickly to underline Poland's commitment, distributing a statement from the Polish embassy in Washington that cited `misinterpretations' of Kwasniewski's earlier remarks. ``Poland will not withdraw from Iraq until the mission of stabilization is successfully accomplished and counts on effective cooperation with the United States, Great Britain, Spain and other NATO and UN members states,'' the embassy statement said. Ooooh, do I detect a bitch slap in there? It said Saddam Hussein had ``misled the world in believing that he had had the weapons of mass destruction and might use them. This was the essential reason to take up the mission in Iraq.'' The statement quoted Kwasniewski as saying that a decisive factor in fighting terrorism was for democratic states to maintain unity and solidarity. ``Demonstration of weakness in the face of terrorist attacks aims at the foundations of democracy and security of all nations and world peace,'' the embassy said. Amen Siwiec said Kwasniewski's Thursday comment about being ``misled'' was meant to criticize intelligence failures in general, not Washington. ``It was not a complaint by Poland addressed to the United States,'' he said. On Thursday, Kwasniewski told French reporters he felt ``uncomfortable due to the fact that we were misled with the information on weapons of mass destruction,'' according to a transcript released by his press office. Ahhh, French reporters. That explains the spin. He then told a separate news conference, ``This is the problem of the United States, of Britain and also of many other nations.'' True. Kwasniewski had also said Poland might start withdrawing its troops from Iraq early next year, months before a planned withdrawal. He had cited progress toward stabilizing Iraq. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #7 The more I read about it, the more I suspect that someone saw an opportunity to get super rich and f'cked up the deal. In which case they deserved it. I think I need to re-evaluate my sources. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-3-19 8:48:46 PM |
| #6 i can see bumar's bid was 70% more than the winning bid. is the problem that the bid requirements were changed and bumar did not have enough time to make a new bid? also most if the $18.5 for iraq reconstruction that the us will spend this year has not been bid. what about bids to supply the occupation forces in iraq and the new iraq army? in some area's eastern european countries should have an advantage since iraqis are more familiar with their equipment. a dispute erupted in poland over why bumar lost the tender. bumar's bid was for $554 million, while the winner asked $327 million. perhaps the issue was not to have a specific company win the tender, but to give preference to companies already well rooted in iraq and the middle east as well as companies operating in the united states, an observer said. in the course of the tender procedure, the americans changed the terms of the tender, including the quantity of equipment ordered, the list of countries admitted to the tender, the deadline for submitting bids and the criteria of selecting the winner. this raised protests from bumar. a source knowledgeable on american relations but wishing to remain anonymous has told gazeta wyborcza daily that bumar either jacked up its costs or set excessive profit margins and agent fees. one other factor that might have determined its failure was that 95 percent of the production was to be handled in poland, while the offers of its rivals were more international in character. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-3-19 8:11:14 PM |
| #5 What contracts was Poland hoping for Poland lost a big contract to supply the new Iraqi army and police. Kwasniewski's Washington visit would have been a waste of time under the best of circumstances, but what pissed people off the most was that countries (like Austria) who actively opposed the war, in the end, got better deals. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-3-19 7:50:03 PM |
| #4 now if the french were under the communist yoke for 50 years they would have a better understanding of what is means to be free. rafael - Bush did not tell the Polich to fuck off - instead they were told to bid like everyone else. but that is not what the left wants you to know - they want you to believe that halliburton got all the contracts - when in reality it is open to all, unfortunetley in my opinion. and no Polands help will not be forgotten - did we forget the help of Australlia, Korea, Britain ect with thier help over the years? no we did not and we are still standing with. we are still standing with the Koreans over 50 years after the cease-fire. we have stood by the Chinese of Taiwan also for over 50 years..so i must say your reasoning is full of holes. the Poles have a good reason to be antagonized by the french - especially when their leaders act as if the rest of the EU countries are their french poodles..do you remember the comment about keeping their mouths shut?? doesn't make for any endearment...and plus the Poles (as do the countries of Africa,Asia, Persian Gulf and the wider Middle East) know who they can count on when the shit hit's the fan. the eurotrash only pay lip service to defense and the countries of the world see right through this. |
| Posted by: Dan 2004-3-19 6:36:41 PM |
| #3 Rafael, I agree that not relaxing the visa requirement for Poles (and other friendly Eastern Europeans) was wrong. If the US is worried about illegal immigration, then a pilot project of 12 months of visa free travel could be implemented and statistics taken on the visa overstay rate. A permanent decision could then be taken. The US already has 10-12 million illegal immigrants. I don't know enough about the reconstruction contracts and I don't know what Poland produces. What contracts was Poland hoping for (i.e. electric generating plants, machinery)? |
| Posted by: ed 2004-3-19 6:30:50 PM |
| #2 I think people need to remember, the Poles faced Nazi tanks on horse back. They were part of the very few who held backthe Nazi bombing campaign during the Battle of Britian. They parachuted behind enemy lines during Operation MarketGarden. Yeah, I think they've got the backbone to stay the course. They certainly are a more steadfast ally than some other people (read French, German) we saved in WWII and with the defeat of the Soviet Union. |
| Posted by: Douglas De Bono 2004-3-19 4:34:14 PM |
| #1 If only. Poland's place is in Europe, not in North America (Zbigniew Brzezinski). Sadly, they will learn that the hard way, sooner or later. Poland's help in Iraq, not to mention their antagonism towards France et. al. will soon be forgotten. My advice is to cozy-up to the UK instead; there's no chance of being left stranded in the middle of the Atlantic. Background: Kwasniewski went to Washington to ask Bush to remove visas for Polish citizens, and for a couple of contracts in Iraq. Bush told him to fuck off. Even the Mexicans, as it now turns out, and Austrians, who vehemently opposed the Iraq war, got a better deal. This did not go over well with the public, as recent polling indicates nationalism is on the rise. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-3-19 2:47:57 PM |