Polish bishop calls presence of coalition troops in Iraq justified

Published: 2004-05-21

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- The head of Poland's military diocese said the presence of coalition forces in Iraq was justified. "Our soldiers know their task is justified, that it conforms with standards of human civilization and culture -- yet they have met dark forces of evil and terrorism," said Bishop Slawoj Glodz of Poland's military diocese. "The green olive branch of peace they took with them has been broken and spurned. They went there to help, so that this land, linked to the history of our salvation, would bear its own fruit of justice," the bishop said during the May 14 funeral in Warsaw for war correspondent Waldemar Milewicz, killed May 7 in Iraq. "This death has particularly shocked people of the media, awakening solidarity, community and brotherhood," Bishop Glodz said during the Mass, televised live. "There is a novel, barbaric feature of our time -- terrorism, kidnapping, killing of innocent journalists, hostage-taking, and brutal and indiscriminate attacks on people whose vocation is service to truth," he said. Poland has 2,350 troops in Iraq.

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