President Lech kaczynski
Posted on 02/07/2006 4:18:36 PM PST by lizol
Poland may extend its mission in Iraq
Tuesday, February 07, 2006 04:45:42 PM
Poland's new president, speaking ahead of his first visit to the United States, said Tuesday that his country could extend its military mission in Iraq into 2007.
President Lech Kaczynski said in an interview with The Associated Press that "staying beyond 2006 is subject to consideration," although such a move "would call for a new decision."
Poland has been a staunch U.S. ally in Iraq. Shortly after taking office in December, Kaczynski approved keeping a scaled-down force of 900 soldiers in the country until the end of this year.
That was a reversal of the previous government's decision to bring all the troops home last month.
"I have said a number of times that staying beyond 2006 is subject to consideration," Kaczynski told the AP. "There is no such decision today.
"Today, we have the decision concerning 2006. The mission in 2007 would call for a new decision."
However, he said he "could not imagine" staying beyond 2007.
Kaczynski was asked whether Iraqis were better off since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.
"Whether better or worse, that's a question for the people of Iraq," he said. "I am in Poland. But I can say one thing for sure: certainly a dictator with blood on his hands has been removed, a man whose actions bordered on genocide.
"I don't know whether he had weapons of mass destruction. And from the very start I did not attach too much attention to that, because I did not believe that if he had them he would use them.
"But I know that he is guilty of numerous crimes and that it was a gangster-like regime. And I believe that removing the regime was good, not bad."
Kaczynski, a social conservative, travels Wednesday to the White House for his first meeting with President Bush. Poles have been eager to win more U.S. investment and easier access to visas, but Kaczynski stressed that strategic issues like Iraq and NATO would take priority during Thursday's meeting.
"The main issue of the talks will be related to our political-military alliance, NATO, the enlargement of NATO," Kaczynski told the AP. "Poland is very much interested in the enlargement of NATO."
He indicated that Poland would push for building stronger Western ties with its neighbor Ukraine _ a former part of the Soviet Union where Russian influence is still strong.
"Poland is very deeply interested in Ukraine joining NATO. We would very much like that to happen in 2008," he said, adding that he supports Ukraine also joining the European Union.
Poland, where memories of domination by Moscow during the Cold War are still fresh, angered Moscow with its support for Ukraine's so-called "Orange Revolution," in which pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko won election over a candidate backed by Moscow.
"As far as Russia is concerned, we are interested in good cooperation and we are also interested in Russians forgetting that there is a sphere of influence here," he said. "I am aware that this is particularly difficult for the Russians.
"But for the sake of good European cooperation, they should forget about it, and be aware that Poles are eager for cooperation with Russia."
Thank you Poland
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