Poles getting cold feet over mission in Iraq

[Nambe]

WARSAW, Poland (Chicago Tribune)

When the Bush administration asked Poland about commanding one of the three military stabilization zones that the United States envisioned for postwar Iraq, the flattered Polish government quickly said yes.

But that was months ago, when Poles thought they were signing up for a peacekeeping mission. Now it appears that Poland is sending its sons off to fight in a war, and public support for the mission is eroding rapidly.

"It's a natural reaction," said Stanislaw Koziej, a retired general and former national security adviser. "People see that the security situation in Iraq is getting worse and worse, and the time for our soldiers to go is getting closer and closer. The moment of truth is approaching.

"Another big problem is we have no evidence of weapons of mass destruction. Some people are thinking the war was not justified," he said.

A survey released last week by CBOS, the country's leading polling organization, showed that 55 percent of the Polish population opposed sending troops to Iraq and 36 percent supported the idea. That represented a dramatic turnaround from a CBOS survey a month earlier in which 50 percent were in favor of sending troops and 33 percent were against. ---

[Maple]

1. Oh NOW

they think it through!

[NYC]

2. Interesting statements.

1. ...Poles thought they were signing up for a peacekeeping mission. Now it appears that Poland is sending its sons off to fight in a war...

2. ...People see that the security situation in Iraq is getting worse and worse...

3. ...we have no evidence of weapons of mass destruction...

4. ...Some people are thinking the war was not justified...

[sandnsea]

5. It appears all those Polish jokes were wrong

They're much smarter than the average American!

[IndianaGreen]

11. Should have been Merkun jokes!

BTW, where are the troops of the Coalition of the Willing?

[alaine]

14. It must be amazing to live in a country where the voice

of the citizenry can actually influence the policy of the government. If only.

[PartyPooper]

3. It's getting worser and worser for everybody!

Including the Poles.

When will the rest of the "coalition of the billing" be lining up to pull out of this quagmire?

I don't blame these folks one bit. Too bad, they were all hoodwinked by the American faux president and his council of nazi war lords (OSP) and, poodle Blair.

[Julien Sorel]

4. The weakness of a coalition like this is that,

once one of them walks out, it has the potential to snowball. The more weak sisters the Bush people cajole into joining their war, the more likely it is that some of them will drop out, and that looks bad. I wonder if the Bush people thought that far ahead. If I was running the Iraqi side, I'd target the weakest-looking countries first to get them to leave, and give the operation the perception of failure. Eventually, that attrition should have an impact on U.S. and world public opinion. Call it the 'trickle up' theory of unconventional warfare.

[revcarol]

6. I'm sure if they give back the $230 million(or whatever bribe $$,)

the U. S. will let them off the hook. NOT

We caught that fish and now we're going to put it in the frying pan to cook.

[teryang]

7. Poland, defying labels

...shows it true colors as part of "old Europe."

[nuxvomica]

8. How does a young Polish soldier explain to his granddad

that he's off to join a military occupation of a foreign country that hasn't attacked anyone? I'm sure some of these folks must remember back to September 1939.

[Rhiannon12866]

9. What about the poor little guys from Albania?

Didn't they send about five troops? Seems to me I saw a political cartoon on this subject. This is about the poorest country in the world and they are mustering troops to attack another third-world nation. Makes no sense to me, either.:crazy:

[samsingh]

10. i guess they found out

this wasn't a golf game like shrub probably painted it to be

[Rose Siding]

12. Rumsfugue will come off his spools

Let me just enjoy that for a moment...................OK, done.

There are some small number of Poles already in Iraq- there was an article here a few days ago that said they had come under fire.

[Zero Gravitas]

13. Not Surprised

Why should Poland send its troops to die for George W. Bush?

[Gin]

15. the Poles that came under fire were hustled into a safe place...

made me wonder if they are armed. If not, they have been had like the rest of us.

[Rhiannon12866]

16. The poor Poles have always been victims throughout history

First Hitler, then his ideological successor.:-(