Allowing Poland to Join NATO

Re “Add Poland, and NATO Is No More,” Commentary, April 16: Edward Luttwak asserts that “Poland never joined an alliance that didn’t collapse.” This is not only deeply insulting to the millions of Poles who lost their lives or loved ones fighting in World War II on the same side as American forces, but it is also a gross historical distortion.

Almost a quarter-million Polish men in arms were part of British and American forces. An additional 400,000 Polish troops fought clandestinely on the home front. Yet another 400,000 fought in various Soviet-led formations. Some 644,000 Polish citizens lost their lives as a result of direct war operations, and 6 million Polish citizens were killed during the war.

The Allies were victorious, but Poland did not share the fruits of that victory at the time. But it is not considerations of the past or of justice that are really at issue here, rather the role of today’s NATO. It was Poland that paved the way for the collapse of the communist bloc and (here Luttwak is right) for the dismantling of the Warsaw Pact.

Poland brings to the table not only its geostrategic position and an economy of almost 40 million people that has scored GDP growth rates of 5% to 7% per year in several consecutive years, but also an army of some 240,000 enlisted men whose potential for inter-operability with NATO forces has been tested in a dozen international peacekeeping missions, including in Bosnia and Haiti. And what is also extremely important, it brings a commitment to truly good relations with all seven of its neighbors, including Russia, that has been unparalleled in the country’s 1,000-year history. A case in point is the fact that several million Russians visit Poland each year.

I believe that such an enlargement of NATO is an act of foresight and wisdom on the scale of the foundation of NATO itself.

JAROSLAW KUREK

Embassy of Poland

Washington