IHT: Poland looks likely to elect party vowing harder bargain with US on Iraq, missile defense

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Poland looks likely to elect party vowing harder bargain with US on Iraq, missile defense

Poland's weekend elections could bring to power a party that favors an eventual end to the country's military mission in Iraq and tougher bargaining on hosting a U.S. missile defense shield. The pro-business Civic Platform party leads Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski's nationalist, conservative Law and Justice party in polls ahead of Sunday's vote. Both favor a strong alliance with Washington, but Civic Platform shows signs it may be quicker to push for what it views as Poland's interests. Since taking power in fall 2005, the Law and Justice government has twice extended Poland's military mission to Iraq, beefed up the country's contingent in Afghanistan to over 1,000 troops, and voiced strong support for hosting the missile base despite objections from Russia.