Pootie-Poot Comes Home to Roost

"'The empire strikes back,' said Ariel Cohen, a Russia expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C."

The Polish Provocation

Bush's claim that the proposed European missile defense program is not directed at Russia was dubious to start with. But yesterday's decision to seal a deal with Poland by throwing in a fully-manned Patriot missile battery directly pointed at Russia makes it a pretty blatant act of provocation.

Thom Shanker and Nicholas Kulish write in the New York Times: "The United States and Poland reached a long-stalled deal on Thursday to place an American missile defense base on Polish territory, in the strongest reaction so far to Russia's military operation in Georgia. . . .

"The missile defense deal was announced by Polish officials and confirmed by the White House. Under it, Poland would host an American base with 10 interceptors designed to shoot down a limited number of ballistic missiles, in theory launched by a future adversary such as Iran. A tracking radar system would be based in the Czech Republic. The system is expected to be in place by 2012.

"In exchange for providing the base, Poland would get what the two sides called 'enhanced security cooperation,' notably a top-of-the-line Patriot air defense system that can shoot down shorter-range missiles or attacking fighters or bombers.

"A senior Pentagon official described an unusual part of this quid pro quo: an American Patriot battery would be moved from Germany to Poland, where it would be operated by a crew of about 100 American military personnel members. The expenses would be shared by both nations. American troops would join the Polish military, at least temporarily, at the front lines -- facing east toward Russia.

"Russia has long opposed the deal, saying the United States was violating post-cold-war agreements not to base its troops in former Soviet bloc states and devising a Trojan Horse system designed to counter Russia's nuclear arsenal, not an attack by Iran or another adversary. . . .

"Washington had balked at some of Poland's demands. . . .

"But in a sign of the widening repercussions of the conflict in Georgia, those concerns were cast aside, as the offensive by Russia's military across its borders was viewed around the world as a sign of Moscow's determination to reimpose its influence across the old Soviet bloc."

The Associated Press reports this morning: "An agreement that will allow the United States to install a missile defense battery in Poland exposes the ex-communist nation to an attack, a Russian general said Friday. . . .

"Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian general staff told reporters Friday that the agreement exacerbates U.S.-Russian relations that are already tense because of fighting between Georgian and Russian forces. He said the deal 'cannot go unpunished.'

"And in the strongest threat Russia has issued in reaction to plans to put elements of a missile defense system in former Soviet satellite nations, the Interfax news agency quoted Nogovitsyn as saying Poland was risking attack.