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Polish People's Army
Posted on 05/21/2003 7:56:06 AM PDT by JustPiper
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) NATO unanimously backs plans to help Poland lead peacekeeping force in Iraq
NATO: Poland Will Lead Iraq Peacekeepers 59 minutes ago
BRUSSELS, Belgium - NATO (news - web sites)'s 19 nations agreed unanimously Wednesday to start planning to help Poland lead a multinational peacekeeping force in Iraq (news - web sites), a move that begins to heal the alliance's deep divisions over the war. Although the plans involve only modest technical assistance, the step also marks the possibility of a wider role for NATO in postwar Iraq.
"This is a big step forward by the NATO alliance," said Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to NATO. "Today's decision puts us squarely in the mix in Iraq."
The apparent ease with which allies reached the deal is in stark contrast with the acrimonious dispute before the war in Iraq, when France, German and Belgium held up sending defensive units to Turkey for weeks to emphasize their opposition to the U.S.-led war.
Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), France and Germany have sought to repair ties with Washington. Burns said the speedy consensus on Poland's request indicated the alliance had put the Iraq dispute behind it.
"I think NATO has overcome that crisis," he told reporters.
French diplomats said Paris had no objection to authorizing the help to the Poles, who are expected to assemble at least 7,000 peacekeepers in a force expected to deploy next month to work between a U.S.-run northern zone and the British-controlled south.
The assistance is expected to involve setting up a headquarters, intelligence sharing, communications and logistics, but no direct NATO involvement on the ground.
"We are not talking about a NATO presence in Iraq, we are talking purely and simply about NATO help to Poland," said Lord Robertson, the alliance's secretary general.
Burns said NATO's military commander, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James L. Jones, would likely present plans for approval next week.
First, alliance military experts will work with the Poles to see what they need and provide a list of available support, and nations considering joining the mission will meet in Warsaw on Thursday and Friday. Poland is expected to provide 2,200 troops to lead its force in Iraq. Bulgaria will contribute 450 soldiers, but it was not immediately clear which other countries would join.
Although limited, U.S. officials see NATO's involvement in Iraq — and a recent decision to take on peacekeeping in Afghanistan (news - web sites) — as signs the alliance is making good on pledges to reinvent itself post-Cold War to face global challenges.
"There is no question that NATO is out on the frontier in the war on terrorism," Burns said.
Diplomats at NATO headquarters said they would continue discussions on the alliance taking over a more central role in longer-term Iraq peacekeeping perhaps as early as the end of this year.
That could follow the model in Afghanistan, where the alliance first provided back up to the German-Dutch peacekeeping force in the capital, Kabul, before agreeing to take command of the mission.
Starting in August, the Afghan operation will mark NATO's first mission outside its traditional Euro-Atlantic theater.
The Iraq mission is a test for Poland which only joined NATO in 1999, and has struggled to modernize and restructure its military along western lines since the collapse of communism 10 year earlier.
What's a French?
Diplomacy in substitution of sound policy.
I'll let that represent all the bullies who harassed me throughout grammar school in the 70's ;)
Flag of the Army Polish People's Army
The Polish military is far better than you realize. Poland has a strong military tradition; it was King Jan Sobieski and his Polish cavalry that stopped the Turks at the gates of Vienna. More recently, the Poles kicked some major Russian butt just after WWI. While it's true that Nazi Germany made short work of Poland, the Poles fought hard, much harder than the French, for instance. Don't forget that Hitler made a pact with the Russians, who rolled into the Eastern part of Poland. The Poles were doomed in WWII, no matter how bravely they fought. Even after their defeat, the Free Poles reassembled in England and formed an Army Corps which fought with legendary bravery against the Germans at Monte Casino. There was no Vichy Poland. To them, it was freedom or death.
There is a teutonic streak in the Poles. Don't underestimate them.
Approaching the podium, President Kwasniewski greets President Bush. "We are grateful to America, you, Mr. President, and your predecessors, for good will and help we have been receiving in Poland for dozen of years -- in all our efforts," said President Kwasniewski, addressing the crowd in English. "Poland is steadfast ally of the United States. We take over the co-responsibility for European and global security. On the 11th of September, all of us felt New Yorkers." White House photo by Susan Sterner.
Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Kwasniewska stand together during the South Lawn ceremony at which the national anthems for both countries were performed and their husbands reviewed the troops. White House photo by Susan Sterner.
All joking aside-special forces and peace keeping-logistics are two different animals.
That takes skills Poland (and most nations in NATO) does not have.
It's hard to take you seriously when you don't have your facts straight. First, King Jan Sobieski's cavalry was overwhelmingly Polish, and marched south to Vienna from Poland. I challenge you to prove otherwise. Second, the Poles won the Russo-Polish War of 1919-1920, thus handing the Red Army its first defeat.
I know it may seem that way to you, but Serbia is not the center of the universe.
So what? Who cares about the Frinch? The Poles helped us fight Saddam's forces and I respect them. I will never have respect for the French wussie legion and I could care less if they ever offered help.
A true Pole would not take that as a compliment. [Small point]
This is peace keeping we are talking about--involving a highly sophisticated logistics base and experiance leading multinational units....the Poles-God bless them--do not have the experiance to pull it off.
I did not mean to imply anything else.
O.K. Destro, fair enough. I must admit that the number of proposed Polish troops is ridiculously low. They need to be thinking in the tens of thousands. BTW, I have you to thank for a history lesson. I was unaware that the original Polish hussars (early 16th century) were Serbian & Hungarian mercenaries, or that the later, much-feared Polish winged hussars adopted their tactics, uniforms, armament, etc. from these predominantly Serbian mercenaries. I always thought that the winged armor (what a sight that must have been) was Polish in origin, but it's Serbian.
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