The United States has agreed to provide transportation and other support for 9,000 Polish peacekeepers heading to Iraq, an official said Tuesday. The agreement was signed by Poland’s Deputy Defense Minister Janusz Zemke and the U.S. Defense Department’s comptroller, Dov Zakheim, last week, said Col. Eugeniusz Mleczak, a Defense Ministry spokesman. Mleczak said the U.S. agreed to provide airlifts for most of the 9,000-person unit to Iraq, additional equipment, camp construction, and medical care and food. The spokesman did not disclose the value of the support. Poland’s government has said it can afford only one-third of the Iraq mission’s annual cost of $90 million. Poland was a staunch ally of the Bush administration’s effort to oust Saddam Hussein, contributing some 200 troops to the war. The Polish mission is scheduled to start in September. Ukraine, Spain, Bulgaria, Norway and Denmark are among more than 20 nations that will have troops in the Polish sector.
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