Atlantic Council

From Anna Ringstrom, Reuters:  Poland needs to stay committed in Afghanistan until the job there is done, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Reuters on the eve of a meeting with the new Polish president.

Poland, which has 2,600 troops in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), is one of a growing number of NATO nations that are setting target dates for withdrawal amid domestic unease over the war.

President Bronislaw Komorowski vowed during his election campaign to bring Polish troops home by 2012 regardless of what other NATO countries decided.

He is due to meet with Rasmussen on his first visit to Brussels since being sworn in on August 6.

"Obviously, the goal is to make it possible for the international coalition to move into a more supporting role by handing over responsibility to the Afghans," Rasmussen told Reuters.

"But we also have to make sure that we finish our job, that we stay committed until we have reached our goal. This will be my message to the president. As it has been to all political leaders within the international coalition."  (photo: Reuters) (video)