Posted on 11/20/2006 11:26:50 AM PST by lizol
Cut out of the loop?
The US Baker - Hamilton Commission has consulted widely trying to find solutions to the carnage in Iraq. But they have failed to consult with Poland, which has the third largest foreign force in the country.
Bogdan Zaryn reports
20.11.06
Over 136 US politicians, military experts, journalist and ambassadors from the UK, Turkey and Jordan (but not Poland) have been asked to take part in a special advisory body to come up with a quick solution in Iraq. But where does this leave Poland with the third largest contingent in Iraq after Britain and the US? Press attaché at the US embassy in Warsaw Andy Schilling has down played speculations about Poland’s exclusion from discussions by saying that Polish –US relations on Iraq continue to be productive.
“The US has been in constant negotiation and consultation with our Polish allies. At the beginning of the month on November 3rd the Minister of Defense Sikorski was in Washington and met with Secretary of defense Rumsfeld. He also met with very senior officials at the State department. It is not true to go and say there’s not been a close consultation with Poland. The Baker Hamilton commission that has been called up by Congress is an advisory commission that will present a report that the Administration will consider as it looks at future policy towards Iraq. In any case you can be sure that the US will have Poland closely involved in any kind of decisions that will be taken about the future direction on operations.”
Warsaw is the strongest supporter of US foreign policy in Europe. For over three years it has been administrating South – Central Iraq where 22 Poles have lost their lives. American studies Professor Zbignew Lewitski says that Poland has been left out of discussions for various reasons.
“ Poland has not been asked for its opinion about how the situation in Iraq may develop mostly because we’ve been very passive on the world scene. Our diplomacy is very weak right now, almost absent from all possible world forms and we are not activity seeking solutions to world problems.”
Poland has made its presence known on the front lines in Iraq in the crusade against terrorism. Krzysztof Bobinski from the Warsaw think - tank Polish Institute of International Affairs thinks that at the moment Poland may have flexed its military muscle in Iraq. However it has yet to have come up with an appropriate plan to end the war there.
“Does Poland really have that much to say. Are the think tanks in Warsaw working flat out to think of ways out of the situation? The Polish presence in Iraq is a military presence and it’s a contribution to the American forces there, I’m not taking about the military presence, which is a positive thing. I think that it’s appreciated by Washington.”
The Baker - Hamilton commission has three weeks to file a report suggesting solutions to ending the insurgency and what many say is now a civil war in Iraq.
"Poland has made its presence known on the front lines in Iraq in the crusade against terrorism."
The Poles have done very well during recent times. We would do well to keep them involved and on the team.
I care. Poland's views are one of the several reasons my husband and I are considering a nice vacation trip there.
Poland has been a stalwart ally and it should be consulted on any proposed solutions for the War in Iraq.
The Polish populace and government are loyal to the US and sophisticated enough to follow the US lead without demanding a veto or special consultation rights that are disproportionate to Poland's size and contribution in Iraq. Although small in military and economic power, Poland is one of the best allies the US has since government and populace are both ardently pro-American.
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