THANK YOU POLAND

[budanski]

Bush invites Poland to Iraq conference

US President George W. Bush has invited Poland, a staunch ally in the Iraq war, to help organize a "rolling dialogue" planned for next week on the future of the country, an aide to the Polish president said Friday.


Bush made the invitation to Poland's President Aleksander Kwasniewski by telephone Thursday, said Marek Siwiec, Kwasniewski's top security aide. Speaking on Polish state radio, Siwiec quoted Bush as saying that "we are inviting you because we have confidence in you."

Poland contributed about 200 troops, including 56 members of its elite GROM commando, a logistics vessel and anti-chemical warfare unit to support the US-led intervention.


On Thursday, US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said the Bush administration is planning a "rolling dialogue" next week to discuss a government for Iraq in discussions with local assemblies in different parts of the country that will include Iraqi notables or potential leaders.


Gen. Tommy Franks, who is running the war, will host the meetings. They are being organized together with Britain, Australia and Poland, which have troops on the ground. They are expected to expand later to involve more countries, Siwiec said.


The United Nations and other countries that backed the US-led military intervention are being invited to attend as observers.

A statement from Kwasniewski's office said the president stressed to Bush the readiness of Poland -- and Polish companies -- to contribute to Iraq's stabilization and reconstruction. He added that his country has "thousands of specialists who have experience from having worked in Iraq and in the region."


Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Polish companies constructed roads and industrial plants in Iraq, while Poland hosted thousands of Iraqi students.


Bush thanked Kwasniewski for "Poland's political support ... and for participation, competence and efficiency of its troops in military operations in Iraq," the statement added.