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Sunday Telegraph January 17, 2010 Poland ready to increase Afghan troops Poland's foreign minister has said his country is willing to commit more troops to Afghanistan and criticised other European nations for excluding their forces from combat missions By Matthew Day in Warsaw -"The issue of national caveats is something I've been banging on about ever since I became defence minister," said Mr Sikorski. "I've coined the phrase 'Who gives without caveats gives double', and I think we need a mechanism for fair burden sharing, both within Nato and the EU. -"I have defended the principle that the government can send troops on missions abroad without the need for extended parliamentary debates," he said. "When our allies are in need they don't expect long debates. Radek Sikorski said Poland "wants to be seen as a nation that stands by its allies" and was ready to expand its presence if asked. "We will be at 2,600 by April and 400 additional troops on standby, which we will deploy if there is a need to strengthen security," he said. Mr Sikorski expressed his frustration over caveats used by other nations, including Germany, that often exclude their forces from combat operations in Afghanistan. "The issue of national caveats is something I've been banging on about ever since I became defence minister," said Mr Sikorski. "I've coined the phrase 'Who gives without caveats gives double', and I think we need a mechanism for fair burden sharing, both within Nato and the EU. "If countries can't commit troops then they should contribute money because these operations are very expensive." Some 15 Polish soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan and the mounting body count has begun to unsettle a country unfamiliar with a foreign war taking the lives of its soldiers. An opinion poll last month showed that as much as 76 per cent of Poles favoured a withdrawal, with many seeing little hope for a successful conclusion. Mr Sikorski, however, while conceding that the decision to fight was "unpopular", argued that an ally's call for help should be answered promptly and unfettered by exhaustive discussion at home. "I have defended the principle that the government can send troops on missions abroad without the need for extended parliamentary debates," he said. "When our allies are in need they don't expect long debates. They want troops. That is what we would expect from our allies if we were in need." The foreign minister added that Polish history had influenced the country's decision to send forces to Afghanistan. Poland's government is hoping its commitment to Afghanistan will give it greater clout and influence in Europe. The country assumes the presidency of the EU next year, and has made strengthening Europe's common security and defence policies a priority. =========================== 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. ============================== --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: arch...@mail-archive.com EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bNM5nn.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: antinato-unsubscr...@topica.com For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit: http://www.topica.com/?p=TEXFOOTER --^----------------------------------------------------------------
