10018

07/21/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-10018

U.S. AND POLAND AGAINST TERRORISM

The United States and Poland, said President George W. Bush, "are standing and fighting side by side" in the war against terrorism. As he welcomed Poland's President Aleksander Kwasniewski [ah-lehk-SAHN-dehr kvah-sh-N-YEHF-skee], Mr. Bush said, "From military forces to law enforcement, terrorist financing and intelligence, Poland's support and solidarity in this great struggle [have] been unqualified. And America is deeply grateful."

President Kwasniewski stressed that "Poland is a steadfast ally of the United States. . . . On the 11^th of September," he said, "all of us felt [like] New Yorkers." Two months ago, President Kwasniewski said, "we organized in Warsaw a conference on combating terrorism in which seventeen heads of state and governments from our region of Europe participated." Poland, he added, has "undertaken giant efforts to make sure that there is no place in the world for terrorist madmen."

President Kwasniewski affirmed Poland's readiness to stand with the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, "to defend values we treasure." Throughout the centuries, he said, Poles "have often fought for our freedom, and yours also. . . . Today our soldiers serve in numerous peace operations, from the Balkans, through the Middle East, to Afghanistan."

President Bush said the United States and Poland, a new member of NATO, "are determined to lead the way in NATO's effort to develop capabilities to meet new threats. We're united in our determination that our children will inherit a world defined not by fear and chaos, but by tolerance and freedom."

The U.S. and Poland are considering steps aimed at modernizing Poland's military and improving U.S.-Poland defense cooperation. These include joint training, partnerships with U.S. army units in Europe, and cooperation in missile defense.

Poland is only one of nineteen NATO countries that joined the U.S.-led coalition to drive the Taleban regime and their al-Qaida terrorist allies from power in Afghanistan. But what remains of al-Qaida is still a threat. And sustained international cooperation is required to defeat it. "Today," said President Bush, "Poland and America stand together for our common freedom, and for bringing the hope of freedom to all who seek it."