Kwasniewski on Kerry

Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski on John Kerry.

Regarding John Kerry's claim that he can do a better job of building alliances, the Senator may want to have a chat with the Poles. After he listened to the first U.S. Presidential debate, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski had this to say to an interviewer from the Polish network TVN on October 1:

"It is really sad that a Senator with 20 years of experience does not notice the Polish input into the coalition and the Polish sacrifice. It is immoral.

"I don't think it's because of the lack of knowledge. But we have to set the record straight. The coalition consists not only of the United States, Great Britain and Australia. It is also about the participation of Polish, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Spanish troops who died in Iraq. It is something immoral not to note the commitment which we embarked upon. We accepted this challenge convinced that terrorism had to be fought, that we had to show international solidarity and that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the world.

"In this sense we can talk about our disillusionment with the fact that the attitude and sacrifice of these soldiers is being marginalized to such an extent. But I think it is all due to the campaign and the certain message that Senator Kerry, although not officially, tries to convey that he thinks of a coalition locating the U.S. alongside Germany and France. That is to say, countries opposing the current American stance on Iraq."