A Surprising Proposal

Bulgaria's defense minister on Monday angrily rejected a Polish military official's suggestion that Bulgarian troops in Iraq should be moved to a more dangerous province. Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov said he had been surprised when Gen. Andrzej Ekiert, commander of the Polish-led multinational division in Iraq, said Poland was preparing to take over control of Qadisiyah province and Bulgarian troops in Karbala would have to move as well. Poland commands some 6,000 international troops in south-central Iraq, where they have faced far more violence than expected, with two Shiite uprisings since April. The fighting forced the Poles to hand over security duties in Najaf and Qadisiyah province to the U.S. military. Ekiert said last week that Poland will resume command in Qadisiyah around Dec. 10. Most of the nations under Poland's command sent troops presuming that south-central Iraq would be relatively quiet, since its population is mainly Shiites, who have largely avoided violence until the recent uprisings. Svinarov said no one has officially asked Bulgaria's 480-member infantry battalion to leave its current base in the city of Karbala.