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Why Poland became involved in the Iraq war?


InPolska  9 | 1796  
13 Sep 2015 /  #1
Moved from a different thread

I do remember reading an article that the Polish foreign minister at that time (or someone else) said "honestly we are involved in Iraq to get access to Iraq's petrol" , since Poland got involved in Iraq's mess.. which led to the creation of Islamic state in Iraq due to the instability of Iraq after the war

I was already in Poland so I can remember very well. The Polish government was so proud to be among the first to join the socalled "US coalition". Later on, Poland has accepted money from the US in order to have prisons in which CIA tortured Muslims....

So Poland got involved up to their neck and that is also the reason why they have debts towards migrants...
OP syrian93  
13 Sep 2015 /  #2
The Polish government was so proud to be among the first to join the socalled "US coalition"

that's "nice" to know, i can't recall that since i was too young to have any interests in following the news, but what i do remember is when a certain "Sikorski" said something about US and Poland ;)
InPolska  9 | 1796  
13 Sep 2015 /  #3
@Syrian: if you want more info, just Google!
Grzegorz_  51 | 6138  
13 Sep 2015 /  #4
ahem... news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3043330.stm

Quite surprising that BBC presented it that way... so I checked what actually was said...
wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,1342,title,Cimoszewicz-celem-Polski-dostep-do-irackich-pol-naftowych,wid,1160663,wiadomosc.html

"The objective of companies represented by Polish Oil group is to get access to the Iraqi oilfields" and below is more details about the prospects of economic cooperation in various sectors. Poland has quite well developed oil & gas sector but barely any own sources, so Polish companies have been active in various places across the world. For example:

gk.com.pl/o-nas/gk-na-swiecie

Besides, that's how it works in this sector. There are many foreign companies in countries like Saudi Arabia or Kuwait. They are invited by these countries to invest their money in exploration and then profits (If there are any...) are shared. Similarly, Poland invited many foreign companies to the shell gas related projects. Most of them soon later left as the tests proved to be disappointing... but that's the common business model in this sector. Post war Iraq sure needed foreign investments in that sector and it was not about "stealing" their oil. Besides, I don't think that any actual cooperation in that sector took place in Iraq, I think due to "lack of stability" over there. Instead Polish companies invested their money in other places, for example in Norway:

lotos.pl/en/702/lotos_group/our_companies/lotos_exploration__production_norge

I don't think Norwegians complain that we got access to their oilfields... they make money out of it.

And generally, If a country like Iraq gets "opened" to the international trade, that's what you get, companies are lining up to do business there and governments don't mind to do some "lobbing". The same happens with Iran now as sanctions are lifted.

polskieradio.pl/42/1699/Artykul/1497272,Iran-od-stycznia-otwiera-sie-na-import-to-szansa-dla-polskich-firm

Polish gov is launching a special program to support export and investments over there and I'm sure Chinese, Germans and others are doing the same... or likely 100 times more so their companies can make some money there.

BBC took some words out of context and then some conspiracy websites picked it up. Not sure why this stupid war was started but sure not to steal Iraqi oil - more likely Saudis used Americans to take down their market competitor... and If Polish government wanted to "steal" some oil over there, they sure wouldn't say that openly.
jxlubecki  
29 Jul 2017 /  #5
I invite you to read my article "Poland in Iraq.Politics of the Decision." Polish strategic reasons to get involved in places like Iraq or Afghanistan have nothing to do with Iraq or Afghanistan.

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