Poland May Set Plan for Iraq Pullout

Yahoo ^ | Apr 27th 2004 | AP

[gawd]

WARSAW, Poland - Poland's likely next prime minister said Tuesday that domestic pressure is building to set a timetable for an eventual pullout of its soldiers from Iraq, but he plans no imminent retreat.

Marek Belka, who is expected to take over Sunday from Prime Minister Leszek Miller, said his remark reflects the mood among government and opposition parties whose backing he has been seeking to be confirmed as the new leader.

"Nobody is talking about bailing out of Iraq," said Belka, who until last month directed economic policy in Iraq under the U.S.-led coalition authority.

"But everybody talks about the necessity of drafting a road map — a kind of scenario which would conclude with the possibility of withdrawing our troops," he said.

Poland commands a 9,500-member multinational force in south-central Iraq, including 2,400 of its own troops.

Belka is due to be sworn in by President Aleksander Kwasniewski on Sunday after Miller's planned resignation.

Belka, who once served as Miller's finance minister, requires parliament's approval for his new post, but he would stay on in a caretaker role even if lawmakers refused to back him.

Miller has said he will step down Sunday, the day after Poland joins the European Union. His decision follows a dramatic decline in his center-left government's popularity, largely due to high unemployment and cuts in government spending.

[PianoMan]

How many times has this been debunked. The press twitches like a crack addict for stories like this. We're all supposed to be out of there in a couple of years.

[capt. norm]

I agree.

I guess the media thinks that if they keep reporting it often enough, it just might come true.

Meanwhile there are dozens of stories they refuse to touch wiith a ten-foot pole because it might put a liberal Democrat in a bad light.

[JackTom]

It is indeed media misinformation. Polish defence minister said recently that Poland may start downsizing its military force in Iraq from the begining of 2005 if the situation there stabilizes and if the tranistion of power into Iraqi government hands progresses smoothly.

Belka's comments are related to his desperate attempts at winning support of a smll leftist party which he needs to get a vote of confidence in the parliament. Which he is most likely going to loose anyway.