Poland plans to pull
troops from Iraq next year
Polish leaders hold hopes that Iraqi elections will lead
to stability and end Poland's mission in Iraq
BY VANESSA GERA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WARSAW, Poland — Poland
should withdraw its troops from
Iraq by the end of next year, Polish
leaders said Monday, the first time
the key U.S. ally has indicated a
timeframe for pulling its soldiers out
of the wartorn nation.
President Aleksander Kwasniewski
said no final decision has been made
on when to withdraw forces but War
saw was considering the late 2005
deadline with the hopes that elections
scheduled for January in Iraq would
bring stability to the country.
“We decided to speak with the
Iraqis and our coalition partners
(and) the United States about a re
duction of the Polish forces from
Jan. 1 — and maybe to finish our
mission at the end of 2005,” Kwas
niewski said on a visit to Paris.
The issue was sparked when De
fense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski
mentioned the possible pullout date
in an interview, the first Polish offi
cial to do so publicly.
Szmajdzinski argued that 2.5
years in Iraq would be "enough” for
the Polish military and said his sug
gestion was aimed at countering
“cheap populism” by opponents of
the Polish presence. However, he
later said his remarks were his “per
sonal opinion” and “not the official
position of the government.”
“In my opinion, the deadline
should be the date of expiry of the
U.N. Security Council’s resolution
1546,” Szmajdzinski was quoted as
telling the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
I
That resolution provided for the
handover of power to Iraqi authori
ties and includes steps that run
through December 2005.
Prime Minister Marek Belka, who
has maintained that he wants to
transfer more authority to Iraq to
make an eventual withdrawal possi
ble, said he had not been consulted
on Szmajdzinski’s remarks.
“The prime minister expressed his
displeasure with my public statement
before the government adopts a for
mal stand,” Szmajdzinski told re
porters later in the day after a meet
ing between the two leaders.
In Washington, a senior White
House official said the U.S. admin
istration did not believe Poland had
changed its position.
“Their position remains the same
— that their troops would be there as
long as it takes,” the U.S. official said,
speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The Poles have made clear their po
sition is one where any decisions they
make will be mission-driven. ”
Separately, Ukrainian authorities
released a letter in which Iraqi Deputy
Prime Minister Barham Salih asked
the former Soviet republic not to with
draw its troops, saying the foreign
forces were needed in Iraq to “face the
ongoing reality of global terrorism. ”
Salih thanked Ukraine’s president
for his country’s “contribution to
the improvement of Iraq’s security,
economy, governance” and said
withdrawing any of the nearly 1,600
Ukrainian troops would have grave
consequences for Iraq and interna
tional community.
Ukraine has said it plans to re
duce its contingent by 200 troops
starting with the next rotation
scheduled to be completed in Octo
ber. President Leonid Kuchma had
no immediate response to the letter.
Observers said the Polish defense
minister’s comments had less to do
with state policy on Iraq than inter
nal politics.
Belka’s government faces a par
liamentary vote of confidence on
Oct. 15 and a leading member of his
junior coalition partner, the Labor
Union, has threatened to withdraw
support for Belka unless he first
presents a plan for pulling Polish
troops out of Iraq.
The Iraq mission has broad politi
cal support in Poland but opposition
has been growing among the Polish
public. An opposition party, the Pol
ish Peasants’ Party, has launched a pe
tition seeking an immediate pullout.
Poland last year took command
of a multinational security force in
central Iraq that currently includes
about 6,000 troops, including more
than 2,400 Polish soldiers.
Szmajdzinski said the mission in
“such difficult conditions” is a ma
jor challenge for a former Warsaw
Pact army that is still “reaching
new capabilities and introducing
new equipment.”
“It is enough,” he said. “It is a ra
tional period of time.”
In Paris, Kwasniewski said that he
hoped the elections are going to
bring stability to Iraq.
“Our plans are known: We want
to reduce our forces after January
2005 and we are thinking very seri
ously about ending the mission . . .
Will it be at the end of 2005 ... or an
other date? It’s hard to say today,”
Kwasniewski said.
PERFECT
FOR DINNER.
(OR DEPENDING
ON WHAT TIME
YOU GET HOME,
BREAKFAST.)
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St. Helens: Danger is limited
to air traffic around volcano
Continued from page 1
Alerts on Sept. 23 reported that it
had 200 small earthquakes, an
amount not seen since November
2001, according to the USGS.
Since then, the earthquakes have be
come more frequent, reaching a rate of
one earthquake per minute after Mon
day’s eruption. Scientists at the USGS
have also recorded a large-scale uplift
of part of the mountain’s glacier and a
nearby segment of the lava dome.
The danger with the current activi
ty is limited to air traffic around the
volcano, the USGS reports.
Mountains closer to home have
also shown some recent activity un
related to the activity on St. Helens.
According to the Cascade Observato
ry, Mount Hood experienced a small
earthquake Monday because of a
shift in tectonic plates. Recent earth
quakes at Mount St. Helens were a
product of magma rising or ground
water becoming heated.
Other activity in Oregon includes
the South Sister volcano range east of
Eugene, where there have been re
ports of a bulge that has steadily in
creased yearly by one inch since first
recorded seven years ago, according
to The Register-Guard.
Wright said the University has a
strong connection to Mount St. Helens.
After the major eruption in 1980, the
USGS sought out University Geology
Professor Kathy Goldman to speak to
the public on behalf of the government
group. Goldman, now on sabbatical in
Italy, is trying to speed up her return to
Oregon so she can study the volcano.
Wright, who is working toward her
Ph.D., said her interest in geology be
gan when she worked for the USGS
studying Computer Information Sys
tems, a system for mapping, and doing
field work twice yearly with the group.
Her interests include the mix of sci
ences a geologist uses to study a vol
canic area.
“I enjoy that after months of re
search and studying a site, that you can
go out and do field work, really seeing
the area for yourself,” Wright said.
anthonylucero@ daily emerald, com
Bret Furtwangler | Graphics editor
Mount St. Helens has had spurts of
seismic activity since the 5.1-magnitue
earthquake in 1980.
Materials: Mother Kali's started
by selling women's studies texts
Continued from page 6
pay the same copyright fees to
produce course packets, the busi
ness is able to save money on print
ing and binding. He also said The
Copy Shop can produce packets
more quickly, which is useful for
professors who need to have packets
printed in the middle of the term or
after the bookstore’s deadline.
An integral role
Mother Kali’s Books began in the
1970s as a women’s cooperative
feminist bookstore, meaning that
they originally sold only books by
women on subjects relating to
women’s lives. It was founded at
the same time the University started
the Women’s and Gender Studies
Program. Izzie Harbaugh, an early
manager of the store, took advan
tage of the opportunity and began
making coursebook arrangements
with the department.
"She literally rolled a cart of books
into the classroom,” Luna said.
Coursebooks are still an integral
part of business at Mother Kali’s
Books, especially in the wake
of competition from online book
stores in recent years.
“Internet buying in general,
Borders, Barnes & Noble, have put lots
of independent bookstores out of busi
ness, and this store had to stop and
think about how it was going to adjust
with the time,” Luna said. “The text
books are what kept this afloat during
the crisis. Professors rallied, incredibly,
to support us.”
“It’s a good idea that they do that,”
Standish said regarding professors’
support of Mother Kali’s Books. “I
don’t want to see that store go out of
business either.”
Tsunami Books sells some
coursebooks, for subjects including
creative writing, and also serves
students in search of fiction and
poetry books. Co-owner David
Rhodes said that the students’ busi
ness “adds to the diversity of who
we get to see. Students bring a good
energy, a fresh, young energy. ”
Eva Sylwester is a freelance reporter
for the Daily Emerald
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