http://www.thenews.pl/international/artykul120933_poland-to-send-1000-soldiers-to-afghanistan-.html
Polish Radio November 30, 2009 Poland to send 1000 soldiers to Afghanistan [108,000 U.S. troops, at least half serving under NATO; as many as 42,000 other NATO member states' and partners' troops currently in Afghanistan; as many as 10,000 more on the way.] Poland is planning to increase troop deployment in Afghanistan by one thousand. The enlargement of the Polish contingent in Afghanistan is a response to the call of General Stanley McChrystal - US commander in Afghanistan – to increase the allied presence by up to 40,000 troops. Originally, Poland’s government intended to send only 600 soldiers to reinforce the present contingent consisting of 2,000 soldiers. However, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Piotr Paszkowski assures that the number of troops will be increased still further. “We will send not more than a thousand soldiers to Afghanistan,” said Paszkowski. The troops will spend five years in Afghanistan unless the allied forces manage to prepare Afghan army and police to take over control of the country earlier. So far only the UK has made any definite announcements to respond to the call of General McChrystal. The British will send 500 additional soldiers to Afghanistan, which is fewer than expected by the US. The government’s decision to enlarge the Polish contingent has been fiercely criticized by the opposition Democratic Left Alliance party. The Parliament Speaker and Former Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski claims that Poland cannot afford to send additional forces to Afghanistan. The Defence Ministry project on the enlargement of Polish troops in Afghanistan has been forwarded to the Foreign Ministry and later will be sent to the President Kaczynski who is expected to OK the project. “The army itself needs to decide how strong the support should be,” said Aleksander Szczygło, head of the National Security Bureau. =========================== Stop NATO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato Blog site: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/ To subscribe, send an e-mail to: rwroz...@yahoo.com or stopnato-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Daily digest option available. ==============================
