The NY Times is reporting that the US and Poland have made an agreement to place missile defense installations in Poland even after months of stalled negotiations. Needless to say, Russia wasn’t happy about the news.

Last week, Moscow reacted angrily to the announced deal with Poland, saying that the move would worsen relations with the United States. A senior Russian defense official, Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, suggested that Poland was making itself a target by agreeing to serve as host for the anti-missile system. Such an action “cannot go unpunished,” he said.

This is obviously a direct result of Russia’s recent invasion of Russia.

The fears about a resurgent Russia were codified to some degree in what Polish and American officials characterized as unusual aspects of the final deal, including an obligation on the United States to defend Poland in case of an attack with greater speed than required under NATO.

I believe this is part of the pressure President Bush is putting on Russia to pull out of Georgia and conform to the way nations should behave in this century. It’s kind of a shot across the bow, so to speak. Poland sees this as vital in maintaining their sovereignty and to protect themselves against the expanding Russian influence. They should work to admit the other former Soviet vassal states into NATO as soon as they can to be a deterrent to Russia as well.

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Posted in Current Events by Josh Ferguson No Comments Yet