In a Polish Radio interview Friday morning, Defence Minister Bogdan Klich (right) described last night’s resignation of General Waldemar Skrzypczak as head of Poland’s land forces as being “politically motivated”.

The commander of Poland’s land forces, General Waldemar Skrzypczak, quit  the army Thursday evening in the wake of his remarks that Defence Ministry incompetence was adding to the death toll of Polish troops in Afghanistan.

Minister Klich said this morning, however, that General Skrzypczak , “Neither in public nor in or private” had approach him with any criticism that red tape and incompetence had delayed vital equipment from reaching Polish troops in Afghanistan.

The general told a newspaper last week, however, that “Defence Ministry bureaucrats, “Who only know war from what they see in the cinema,” were making vital decisions on weapons procurement without any knowledge of the conditions on the ground for the 2,000 Polish troops stationed in Afghanistan.

The remarks came after the Polish army suffered its tenth death in Afghanistan when Captain Daniel Ambrozinski was killed by a Taliban sniper August 11.

Fifty three year-old General  Skrzypczak who had earlier served in Iraq, said he had no other choice as a soldier but to make the criticism public and resign from his post.

Last night, General Skrzypczak accused Defence Minister Bogdan Klich of lying to the media when he claimed that he had admitted to having made a mistake by criticizing MOD officials.  The General stressed that he apologized only for the place and timing of his remarks, made after the death of a Polish captain in Afghanistan, but not for their substance. (pg/mk)

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Poland’s land forces commander resigns, thenews.pl, Aug 20