How to Let a Coalition Fray "What about Poland?"

Jerzy Szmajdzinski, told the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza last week that Poland planned a 40 percent reduction of its forces in Iraq by the end of January 2005 and to have all its troops out by the end of that year. While Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said a withdrawal is in the discussion stage and could not be finalized until after the Iraqi elections scheduled for January, his words come amid signs that the coalition is fraying.


But if the United States is to sustain the involvement of "New Europe" in the coalition in Iraq, it must go beyond words and take steps to address its allies' main concerns. One is the stiff visa requirements imposed on travelers from Central Europe to America. Even today, when they are members of both the European Union and NATO, every Pole, Czech, Slovak and Hungarian must pay a $100 application fee and be personally interviewed before a visa is issued

The other bone of contention that has emerged between the United States and Central Europe concerns postwar Iraqi contracting. While Halliburton Co. and several other U.S. companies have reportedly been awarded contracts worth billions of dollars, comparatively few contracts have been awarded to companies from Central Europe


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28392-2004Oct12.html