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15.10.04, 01:08
Wall Street Journal
Kwasniewski on Kerry
October 13, 2004 ; Page A16
Regarding John Kerry's claim that he can do a better job of building
alliances, the Senator may want to have a chat with the Poles. After he
listened to the first U.S. Presidential debate, Polish President Aleksander
Kwasniewski had this to say to an interviewer from the Polish network TVN on
October 1:
"It is really sad that a Senator with 20 years of experience does not notice
the Polish input into the coalition and the Polish sacrifice. It is immoral.
"I don't think it's because of the lack of knowledge. But we have to set the
record straight. The coalition consists not only of the United States , Great
Britain and Australia . It is also about the participation of Polish,
Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Spanish troops who died in Iraq . It is something
immoral not to note the commitment which we embarked upon. We accepted this
challenge convinced that terrorism had to be fought, that we had to show
international solidarity and that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the world.
"In this sense we can talk about our disillusionment with the fact that the
attitude and sacrifice of these soldiers is being marginalized to such an
extent. But I think it is all due to the campaign and the certain message
that Senator Kerry, although not officially, tries to convey that he thinks
of a coalition locating the U.S. alongside Germany and France . That is to
say, countries opposing the current American stance on Iraq ."
Mr. Kwasniewski's anger suggests that maybe the issue in this U.S.
Presidential election isn't whether we'll have allies, but which ones they'll
be. As the Polish President says, Mr. Kerry seems to prize above all "
Germany and France ." Frankly, we prefer friends who act like friends, namely
the Poles and British.