Poland Says Iraq Mission Strains Budget

Poland Says Iraq Mission Strains Budget
By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press Writer

WARSAW, Poland - Poland's new defense minister on Friday suggested that additional U.S. aid would be a crucial factor in determining whether to continue playing an active role in the war on terror.

A day before heading to Washington, Defense Minister Radek Sikorski said meetings with top U.S. military officials would help Poland reach a decision within the next few weeks whether to keep its 1,500 soldiers in central Iraq or stick to the last government's plan to bring them home next month.

Sikorski, however, said the war on terror has strained the resources of this country of 39 million, which is still emerging from communism and is struggling to deal with the burdens of being a NATO member.

President Bush, meanwhile, faces increasing pressure from critics. The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq is also facing obstacles, with Bulgaria and Ukraine to begin withdrawing their combined 1,250 troops this month, and six other countries, including Poland, considering bringing their soldiers home.

"We've invested a lot of energy — both blood and treasure and government attention, and political capital — in the mission and we certainly want to end it with success," Sikorski said. "By success, I mean handing over our sector of responsibility to a democratically elected Iraqi government ... and I think they are actually pretty close to success."

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051202/ap_on_re_eu/poland_us_iraq