Free Republic

Tyszkiewicz: Ladies and gentlemen, (inaudible) we are delighted to host our wonderful guest, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Mr. Donald Rumsfeld. Please join me in applauding him. (Applause.) Rumsfeld: Thank you very much. General, I am so pleased to be here. What's happening here is important in so many ways. First of all to the troops here, thank you so much for what you do, for your service. It's important. It's valued. It's valued by the people of the United States. It's valued I know by the people of your respective countries, and it's certainly valued by the Iraqi...

<p>BABYLON, Iraq &#8212; The United States, eager to share security duties in Iraq, handed military control over a large swath of the country to a Polish commander yesterday during a ceremony in the ruins of an amphitheater built by Alexander the Great.</p>

THE US plans to divide Iraq into five administrative zones, one of which could be managed by Poland, the daily Rzeczpospolita said quoting a NATO source. Under a proposal made by Washington to Warsaw, Polish companies would also take part in the reconstruction of Iraq, the conservative newspaper, one of Poland's two biggest dailies, said. It said the United States was "ready to fully finance the participation of the Polish contingent in the stabilisation force" in Iraq and had asked Warsaw to send between 2000 and 4000 soldiers, while the Polish defence ministry "has in mind a figure of 1500"....