Poles Job Finished in Iraq

Polish forces will be out of Iraq by the middle of October and will hand over to the Iraqis responsibility for the whole province of Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad.

The last Polish soldier will exit Iraq in mid-October.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who came to power in October 2007, pledged a quick withdrawal from Iraq during his election campaign. Twenty-two Polish soldiers have died in Iraq since 2003, when Poland's then left-wing/former Communist president Aleksander Kwaśniewski deployed a force of 2,600 troops to Diwaniyah region in support of the US-led invasion that year.

The move drew harsh criticism in Europe, especially from Germany and France, both of which vehemently opposed the invasion. They accused Poland, which was poised to join the European Union in 2004, of betraying the bloc.

1,600 Polish troops are also deployed in Afghanistan, serving with NATO battling a Taliban-led insurgency. The Afghanistan mission is almost as unpopular as that in Iraq, but Tusk's government has not signalled any moves to pull out.

The Polish command in Iraq also had troops from a dozen other coalition of the willing countries under its command structure. The tours of duty in Iraq and Afganistan made Polish troops "battle tested" and better prepared in an uncertain world.

Soon, Poland like the U.S. will have an all volunteer force.