400 more Polish troops for Afstan
Further to this post, the Poles certainly will be pulling their weight:
Poland's government is expected to send 400 additional troops to its mission in Afghanistan, a move of increased importance amid destabilization in neighboring Pakistan, the nation's defense minister said Friday.Update: Just to be clear, these are the same 400 troops mentioned in the earlier post. More from an informed Polish source:
Some 1,200 Polish troops already serve as part of the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. Earlier this month the country pledged to strengthen that force with more troops and eight helicopters.
Defense Minister Bogdan Klich said Friday that President Lech Kaczynski — the supreme commander of the armed forces — has proposed that 400 troops be sent at the end of April.
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk is expected approve the plan.
Klich said the need to strengthen the force was highlighted by the assassination on Thursday of Pakistani opposition leader and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
"The situation in Pakistan and the danger of the destabilization spreading in the region, also into Afghanistan, is forcing us to strengthen the mission," Klich said...
The 400 number is confirmed. That will include 180 pilots and ground crews for the eight helicopters Poland is sending with the 3rd rotation. What are the remaining 220 people is everybody's guess. My guess is: 120 for PRT in the making and 100 battle troops.
posted by Mark, Ottawa at 10:14 a.m.
2 Comments:
I reiterate: adding Poles to any coalition force is usually a good thing. All reports from Marines who worked with them in Iraq were uniformly good. Apparently they enjoy a good fight, and aren't shy about wading in if their ROE permit.
For centuries, Polish soldiers have historically been warriors to be reckoned with.
Let's remember that at the beginning of WW2, Polish Horse Cavalrymen actually tried to fight the German Army Panzer formations! You've got to admire soldiers who'd rather die on their feet than surrender without a fight. (Like a certain country's vaunted Royal Marines did to Iranian Rev. Guards a few months ago. That was shameful.)
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