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DRAWSKO POMORSKIE TRAINING AREA, Poland (AP) - When Polish soldiers take command in part of postwar Iraq this summer, they will build on steady progress in transforming a lumbering Soviet-bloc force into a modern army and reap the benefits of serving alongside U.S. troops. For a nation that emerged from communism little more than a decade ago, the mission rewards changes that have won high praise from U.S. military leaders and helped lift Poland to the status of a leading European ally. Poland will contribute troops to and command a 7,000-soldier multinational force in central Iraq beginning in mid-August, and...

US President George W. Bush has invited Poland, a staunch ally in the Iraq war, to help organize a "rolling dialogue" planned for next week on the future of the country, an aide to the Polish president said Friday. Bush made the invitation to Poland's President Aleksander Kwasniewski by telephone Thursday, said Marek Siwiec, Kwasniewski's top security aide. Speaking on Polish state radio, Siwiec quoted Bush as saying that "we are inviting you because we have confidence in you." Poland contributed about 200 troops, including 56 members of its elite GROM commando, a logistics vessel and anti-chemical warfare unit to...

WARSAW, Poland, Apr 02, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Polish troops fighting with the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq are encountering many Iraqi combatants in civilian clothes, making it hard for coalition troops to recognize the enemy, the commander of Poland's special forces said Wednesday. Poland has sent 56 members of its elite GROM commando unit to the Iraq campaign in a signal of support for the United States. Unit commander Col. Roman Polko, reporting in Warsaw on his soldiers' activities, said they came across many Iraqis who appeared to be civilians. "It often turns out that this is not...

WARSAW, Poland - Polish troops fighting with the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq (news - web sites) are encountering many Iraqi combatants in civilian clothes, the commander of Poland's special forces said Wednesday. U.S. soldiers in Iraq have reported coming under fire from civilians, and four U.S. soldiers were killed last week in a suicide attack that prompted some nervousness among coalition troops. Poland has sent 56 members of its elite GROM commando unit to the Iraq campaign in a signal of support for the United States. Unit commander Col. Roman Polko, reporting in Warsaw on his soldiers' activities, said they...

WARSAW, Poland - Poland's defense minister scolded President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday for publicly describing the actions of Polish commandos in Iraq, saying the U.S. leaders shouldn't use the troops "for propaganda." Bush on Wednesday told U.S. troops at the Army's Central Command in Florida that Polish troops had secured an Iraqi oil platform in the Persian Gulf, while Rumsfeld praised the Poles' professionalism. But Jerzy Szmajdzinski said the country's troops in Iraq include members of the elite GROM commando special forces unit, and said Warsaw doesn't want information about their activities discussed. "It is not...

WARSAW - In the past two weeks I've been to three different western European capitals -- London, Paris and Berlin. Everywhere the talk was of war, everywhere the Americans were being berated for "aggression" and "warmongering" and the "potential murder of civilians," everywhere mass demonstrations loomed. As such it was something of a relief to return to the calm of Warsaw. When I got back last weekend, as 50,000 marched in Berlin, fewer than 300 demonstrators huddled outside the U.S. Embassy for a while before drifting quietly home. The only Warsawian I saw approaching the embassy today was a woman...

Poland Admits Iraq Combat Role After News Photos Mon March 24, 2003 01:10 PM ET By Douglas Busvine WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland admitted on Monday that its elite GROM commando unit had taken part in the U.S.-led attack on Iraq after the soldiers posed for a Reuters news photographer. The Defense Ministry had denied that GROM (Thunder) special forces were involved in combat, but on Monday it confirmed their participation after dailies splashed photographs of the soldiers in the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, where U.S.-led troops are battling pockets of Iraqi resistance. Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski refused, however, to...

Poland admits Iraq combat role after news photos By Douglas Busvine WARSAW, March 24 (Reuters) - Poland admitted on Monday that an elite commando unit had taken active part in the U.S.-led attack on Iraq after the soldiers posed for a Reuters news photographer. The Defence Ministry had denied that GROM (Thunder) special forces were involved in combat, but on Monday it confirmed their participation after dailies splashed photographs of the soldiers in the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, where U.S.-led troops are battling pockets of Iraqi resistance. Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski refused, however, to divulge details of the troops'...

Polish elite troops see first action in Iraq WARSAW, March 24 (Reuters) - Polish commandos have seen their first action of the Iraq war, with more than 50 troops joining the five-day-old campaign to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the Defence Ministry said on Monday. Confirmation came after U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Sunday the main U.S.-British assault force was being actively supported by troops from Australia and Poland. A Defence Ministry spokesman said "GROM" (Thunder) special forces had joined operations in the Gulf port of Umm Qasr, where resistance by Iraqi forces was continuing. Prime Minister...