I have spoken to various Polish soldiers about the subject of Iraq. The majority feel it is not their war. However, Poles remain. When questioned further many respond that Poland is fulfilling their NATO responsibilities, however this gets a bit cloudy when I point out France's refusual to be involved. Many feel that Poland has to some how proove its reliablity and faithfullnes to the US. The question is had this been don to the US's satsifaction? Britain has just announced a significant downscaling of its operations in Iraq. Will this spell the end for Poland too?

WaterGate????

Why is there a persistent re-use of the term water within US scandals. Nixon had Watergate, Clinton had Whitewater and now Bush junior has BlackWater . However, oddities aside, the Blackwater afair could singify a dramatic change of the rules in Iraq for Private Military Companies (PMCs). From 2003 until now they have been immune from Iraqi prosecution for any actions carried out in Iraq. This has basicily given them a carte blanche licence to kill. However, the US administration are being pressured to (and are seemingly thinking about) allowing the Iraqi legal system to deal with cases of excesive force.

This could spell the end for PMC's in the way we know them. As few people (even mercs) would want to end up in the hands of Iraqi police and the legal system. As the coallition relies heavily on PMCs this could have dramatic effects for the whole operation.