Bringing the troops back home

Polish troops will pull out of Iraq this October, the Polish government announced last month. "We have carried out more than our share of tasks -  this is our last Christmas in Iraq, we achieved all the aims of the mission," Prime Minister Donald Tusk told soldiers during his first visit to the Polish military base in Iraq in December.

The final detail of troops will be sent to Iraq in January and the Polish zone will be handed over to the Iraqi army in April. As well as the troops, some 1,000 tonnes of equipment needs to be transported home. No detailed schedule for the withdrawal has been announced yet.

President Lech Kaczyński accepted the government's decision despite his previous disapproval of the plan.

The largest opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), was skeptical about the decision, claiming that the withdrawal is being carried out in haste. "We have been there for so long ... it is no use taking steps that would question all our achievements there," Jarosław Kaczyński, the head of PiS, told the press in December.

Some 85 percent of Poles support the withdrawal of Polish troops from Iraq next year, according to a December poll by TNS OBOP.

Polish forces entered Iraq in 2003, and their current number stands at 900. Although Poles enjoy a relatively good reputation among the Iraqi people, 27 troops have been killed since the beginning of the mission. Recent months have also seen increased attacks on Polish forces, including an attempt on the life of Polish Ambassador to Baghdad, Edward Pietrzyk, and an attack on the Polish embassy. A militant group also issued a video in which it threatened Polish forces. 

Even though Polish troops will leave Iraq, they are likely to support missions elsewhere. The Polish mission to Afghanistan will be increased by 400 troops between May and April and 350 Poles will be sent to Chad between February and March, the Rzeczpospolita daily reported last week.