NATO to Lend Poland a Hand in Iraq

NATO members agreed unanimously on Wednesday to provide technical support to Poland as the country prepares to lead a stabilization force in southern Iraq. The allies took less than a week to respond to Poland’s request for help. The decision to support new member Poland is seen as a major step in healing the fractious rifts in the alliance that formed over the question of Turkey in the lead-up to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Poland has been entrusted by Washington with responsibility for a huge swathe of land in south-central Iraq between Basra and Baghdad as a reward for Warsaw’s strong support of the military campaign that ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The mission, which will see Poland operating alongside British (photo) and U.S. forces, is seen as a morale booster for the eastern European country, which joined the alliance just four years ago.

It is estimated that at least 7,000 troops will be needed to secure the peace in the region, which is still marked by looting and lawlessness. Poland does not have sufficient troop strength to go it alone, and is expected to send only between 1,500 and 2,200 of its own soldiers into the region.

Troop-Pledging

On Thursday and Friday, several NATO nations and eastern European countries are meeting at a "troop-pledging" conference in Warsaw where the discussions are being held behind closed doors and the nations taking part in the stabilization force are expected to be announced next week.

"This is one of the most important stages in the planning for operations in Iraq," said Poland’s defense minister, Jerzy Szmajdzinski. "We have several days of preparations ahead of us before the contingent is complete. In the end, the decisions will be made in the capitals of the countries that wish to take part in the reconstruction and stabilization of Iraq."

Szmajdzinski made sure to chose his words carefully in the wake of a proposal he floated in the American press earlier this month to send a multinational force of Germans, Danes and Poles currently stationed in northwest Poland into Iraq as a stabilization force. Berlin was not informed and shot down the suggestion immediately.

The Polish press, which cites official sources, speculates that Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Lithuania and Ukraine could provide troops for the mission. Germany has declined to take part, and it is unlikely that there will be German military forces stationed as peacekeepers in Iraq.

A new U.S.-sponsored draft resolution on Iraq, which passed the UN Security Council on Thursday by a vote of 14 to 0 with Syria abstaining, will provide the legal basis for the mission.

Healing a Wounded Alliance

Diplomats are hailing the recent developments as an important step in healing the pre-war developments that plunged the transatlantic alliance into perhaps the deepest crisis in its 54-year history.

NATO found itself bitterly split ahead of the Iraq war over the question of bolstering the defenses of its ally Turkey. France, Germany and Belgium had argued that sending forces to defend Turkey was in effect accepting the inevitability of war. Many feared that the fracture had cut into NATO’s very foundation and some analysts had already began composing the organization’s eulogy. Those fears now seem to have faded.

In Iraq, NATO is expected to provide mainly technical assistance to Poland such as setting up headquarters, running communications and sharing intelligence. The NATO flag will not be flown. However, the decision to come to Poland’s aid could be an important step towards a larger role in the war-torn country.

"This is a big step forward for the NATO alliance," the organization’s U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns (photo) told reporters. "There is no question that NATO is out on the front lines in the global war on terrorism."

It is largely for that reason that Washington has welcomed the NATO involvement in Iraq, saying it sees the development as a sign of the alliance moving beyond its traditional turf and showing a willingness to tackle far-flung security threats. Diplomats say the Iraq mission could follow the successful Afghanistan model, in which NATO provided technical support to a German-Dutch peacekeeping force in Kabul.