Ironworks Gaming Forum - View Single Post - Spain PM-elect: Troops out of Iraq

Dreamer128 · 03-19-2004, 12:52 PM

Back on topic, it would appear Spain is setting an example;

Warsaw says it was misled on Iraqi WMD

The bloodletting in Iraq is not Washington's only worry. One of its staunchest European allies has dropped a diplomatic bombshell. Poland's President Alexander Kwasniewski said he had been misled over Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction. "We were taken for a ride," he told reporters in Warsaw. Poland runs one of Iraq's stabilisation zones and has 2,500 troops in the country. Daily violence has dented support for the mission and opposition parties are demanding troops be withdrawn.

Kwasniewski ruled out that possibility but the timing of his remarks on WMD is likely to upset Washington, already smarting from the new Spanish government's pledge to pull its forces out of Iraq. Spain's contingent of 1,300 troops is considered to be among the best trained and most effective in the multi-national force. And the prospect of their withdrawal from the Polish sector by June 30 has only added to Warsaw's fears of isolation as Madrid aligns itself with France and Germany.

[ 03-19-2004, 01:06 PM: Message edited by: Dreamer128 ]

03-19-2004, 12:52 PM	#69
Dreamer128 Dracolisk Join Date: March 21, 2001 Location: Europe Age: 40 Posts: 6,136	Back on topic, it would appear Spain is setting an example; Warsaw says it was misled on Iraqi WMD The bloodletting in Iraq is not Washington's only worry. One of its staunchest European allies has dropped a diplomatic bombshell. Poland's President Alexander Kwasniewski said he had been misled over Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction. "We were taken for a ride," he told reporters in Warsaw. Poland runs one of Iraq's stabilisation zones and has 2,500 troops in the country. Daily violence has dented support for the mission and opposition parties are demanding troops be withdrawn. Kwasniewski ruled out that possibility but the timing of his remarks on WMD is likely to upset Washington, already smarting from the new Spanish government's pledge to pull its forces out of Iraq. Spain's contingent of 1,300 troops is considered to be among the best trained and most effective in the multi-national force. And the prospect of their withdrawal from the Polish sector by June 30 has only added to Warsaw's fears of isolation as Madrid aligns itself with France and Germany. [ 03-19-2004, 01:06 PM: Message edited by: Dreamer128 ]