Via Austin Mayor,
Poland’s pulling out of Iraq starting in January.
And, of course, the line from Polish President about weapons of mass destruction
“They deceived us about the weapons of mass destruction, that’s true. We were taken for a ride.”
Quick denounce him as un-American. Oh, wait, he isn’t American. He must be French–wait, he’s not French. German? uh, no. Leftist socialist–well yes, but Bush’ leftist socialist.
But let’s look at the ‘coalition as it now stands.
The notion that these countries are being insulted when Kerry criticizes the coalition is a joke. The only reason most of these nations are doing anything is because they want to stay on the good side of Washington.
Rumsfeld visited Ukraine in August. According to the Eurasia Monitor:
Kyiv is rife with speculation that a secret deal was struck during Rumsfeld’s visit. The Kyiv Weekly, a newspaper formerly owned by Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk’s son but recently purchased by the Industrial Union of the Donbas, reported that a quid pro quo had, in fact, been agreed between Rumsfeld and Kuchma. Under the alleged deal, what “Ukraine provides to the U.S. in Iraq is the main guarantee that Washington does not subject Kyiv to being ostracized in the event of dubious results in the Ukrainian presidential election”
You can find the full article at: http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=401&issue_id=3055&article_id=2368445
This seems to be a particularly egregious example of the ways this administration keeps the “coalition of the willing” together. W had nothing to brag about. And Kerry’s criticisms about current members of the coalition may very well be what’s needed to convince other countries that we are ready to find an international solution to Iraq.
Well, not the ONLY reason. The other reason is the gobs of money Bush is funneling their way.