President backs call for more Polish troops in Iraq

"We need more troops in Iraq," Gen Waldemar Skrzypczak, chief commander of the ground forces, said yesterday after inspecting the Polish base in Diwania, in a statement that startled most observers. But his words were confirmed a few hours later by President Lech Kaczynski. "Our base has recently come under increasing fire. This may justify changing the nature of our mission to a more offensive one," he said, adding "If someone thinks that through these acts they can kick Poles out of Iraq, they are wrong." Ever since the Iraq war began, the Polish contingent, originally 2,500 strong, was gradually trimmed down and its responsibilities narrowed. The current, eighth contingent of Polish troops, was to have purely advisory and training functions, and the whole mission was scheduled to close by the end of the year. But the growing violence in Diwania and its surrounding areas in recent months by emboldened Shi'ite militias, which saw two Polish soldiers killed for the first time in two years, has put these plans into question. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 10) R.M.