22nd Polish soldier killed in Iraq - Withdrawal is overdue

TVP Info. is reporting that one Polish soldier has been killed and three injured in Iraq after their convoy drove onto a mine. This comes just 2 weeks after an assassination attempt on the Polish ambassador to Iraq, General Edward Pietrzyk, in which a Polish and Iraq security guard died. The death toll for Polish troops in Iraq now stands at 22. The new government under the centre-right Civic Platform party have promised to withdraw Polish soldiers from Iraq by 2008.

A new poll, conducted for the Polish Press Agency, asserts that 81 percent of Poles are against the military presence of Polish soldiers in Iraq. In addition to this 77 percent are also opposed to Polish participation in the NATO led Afghanistan occupation. The missions received support from 16 percent and 19 percent of those polled, respectively.

Poland has about 1,200 troops as part of NATO's ISAF in Afghanistan while 900 Polish officers and soldiers are based in Iraq. According to the PAP poll, 74 percent of Poles believe that the U.S.-led operation in Iraq

will not help restore peace in that country and 16 percent think the opposite.

Even more interestingly, 72 percent of respondents believe Poland's participation in the war zones make their country a potential target for terrorists.

Frequently I've met Poles of the opinion that the war itself was wrong and Poland should not have joined in, but that now they should stay to avert an all out civil war.

Seventeen percent of Poles believe that NATO operation in Afghanistan will help restore peace in that country and 73 say the opposite.
The Iraq Body Count website claims that

US forces have killed 96 Iraqi civilians in October, including 23 children.
In September they had killed 91, including 7 children.

Yet despite the fact the vast majority of civilian deaths are at the hands of sectarianism, the U.S. led occupation has continued to arm various factions who in turn commit massacres. According to Human Rights groups, the Iraqi government Ministry on the Interior is purportedly as bad as it was under Saddam.

What a fucking disaster. And innocent civilians continue to bear the brunt of this brutal military misadventure.

The survey was conducted from Oct. 10-14 on 1,385 adult Poles.