Bush to Ask Congress for $100M for Poland

Wednesday February 9, 2005 5:46 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush said Wednesday he will ask Congress for $100 million to help modernize armed forces in Poland, a staunch ally in the war in Iraq.

During an Oval Office meeting with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, Bush said he was confident that Congress would approve the money. That would be an increase over the $60 million the United States gave Poland last year.

"Poland has been a fantastic ally because the president and the people of Poland love freedom," Bush said. "I know the people of your country must have been thrilled when the millions of people went to the polls" in Iraq.

The money will be part of the estimated $80 billion war funding request the White House is expected to submit to Congress next week.

Poland has taken command of a multinational security force in central Iraq that currently includes about 6,000 troops -among them more than 2,400 Polish soldiers. Poland, however, recently disclosed plans to withdraw about 800 of those troops, leaving about 1,600 there until the end of the year.