Iraq commitment: Poland and the Netherlands vowed yesterday to keep troops in Iraq and warned Spain's incoming government that its plan to pull out could be seen as weakness in the face of terror after the Madrid bombings.
Poland has 2,400 troops in Iraq and commands a 9,000-strong division of troops from 24 nations, including 1,300 Spanish soldiers, in a central-south zone.
"Revising our positions on Iraq after terrorist attacks would be to admit that terrorists are stronger and that they are right," Prime Minister Mr Leszek Miller told a news conference in the Polish town of Tarnow.
The Dutch government said it would not be cowed by the Madrid bombings into withdrawing its troops from Iraq and said the attacks would not affect deliberations on extending their mandate beyond July.
"It would be unacceptable if we would be guided in this decision by these horrible terrorist attacks," said Mr Camiel Eurlings, foreign affairs spokesman for the centre-right Christian Democrats, who rule in a three-party coalition. "That would be giving into terrorism. It would not lower the risks in the longer term, it would increase them," he added.
Spain had been due to take over the command of the international division on July 1st but the plan was thrown into doubt on Monday when Socialist Prime Minister-elect Mr José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said he would bring the troops home.
Warsaw's ambassador to NATO, Jerzy Nowak, said Poland was prepared to stay in charge until the end of the year if Spain went back on its pledge to take over. Poland fears it may be the next target, prompting the authorities to step up security at borders, airports and railway stations. "If terrorists see that you can force a country to pull out, they may think it is worthwhile to try the same again," said Janusz Reiter, of the International Relations Centre, Warsaw.