August 15, 2008 :: News
Poland announced today that they have come to an agreement with the United States over the basing on Polish territory of ballistic missile defense interceptors. The historic agreement details include the positioning of ten ground based interceptors for the purpose of deterring a Middle Eastern ballistic missile threat, most specifically from Iran. In exchange for the installation, Warsaw has secured a guarantee that Poland will be protected by the United States in a more swift manner than required by NATO. Two aspect of the deal include that for a time American military will man the interceptor installations, and that in the case of attack against Poland the United States would be obliged to defend Poland with greater speed than normally required between NATO members. Both aspects tend to reinforce the security commitment in light of Russian threats.
The timing of the agreement has sparked Russian anger, given U.S. agreements with a former Warsaw Pact country. Russia has repeatedly attacked the project, making both veiled and acute threats to Poland, including nuclear threats. Given the recent Russian invasion of Georgia, the Russian Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Konstantin Kosachyov, has said that the deal deal will only intensify the stress on U.S.-Russian relations.
(Article)
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