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Poland to place American missiles at Russian border
Published: 21 January, 2010, 08:33
Edited: 05 March, 2010, 21:06
TAGS: Arms, Scandal, Russia, Politics, Europe, USA
The site chosen by Poland’s defense ministry for the deployment of the US “Patriot” air defense system is only 100 km from the Russian border, according to a report in Polish media.
The information initially published in Polish political daily Gazeta Wyborcza was later confirmed by Polish officials.
The city of Morag in northern Poland will be used to host the battery of Patriot missiles, which means they will be located very close to Russia’s enclave region of Kaliningrad.
The initial plans were to place the air defense unit near capital Warsaw, but the Polish military chose Morag instead. They assure that the decision was not influenced by military strategy but rather due to the economy and convenience. “In Morag, we offer the best conditions for US troops and the best technical facilities for the equipment,” said Defense Minister Bogdan Klich.
The battery will consist of eight launchers and will be manned by around 100 US soldiers. The exact date of the arrival of American troops and weapons to Poland is not yet fixed. The newspaper says it is expected to be in April.
In 2008, Warsaw convinced Washington to deploy Patriot missiles in its territory as part of an agreement to host elements of the planned antiballistic missile system in Eastern Europe. The Bush-era plans have been downsized by the Obama administration, but the Patriot deal remains in force.
At the height of tension between Russia and the US over the ABM shield President Medvedev announced that, if the system is built, Moscow will deploy Iskander short-range missiles in the Kaliningrad region to maintain strategic balance. This was never done, however, and after the antimissile system plans were overhauled, Russia said it no longer saw any need to move its Iskander missiles.
Moscow has not yet commented on the latest move, but as military journalist Viktor Litovkin says, the Patriot missiles present no real danger to Russia's security.
“The cancellation of Bush’s plan to place an anti-ballistic missile system was a warm approach to improve relations between the countries,” Litovkin said. “The current establishment of the Patriot defense system is considered compensation to Poland for the canceled deal, as well as a way to cure Polish phobias. Now it is clear who Poland is afraid of – but it is not clear why. The Patriot defense system doesn't represent any threat to Russia.”
Whereas, political analyst Vladimir Kozin says the decision deals a direct blow to Russia’s strategic arms plans.
“This is specifically alarming at the time when we are approaching the signing of the START treaty.”
Kozin also believes the “unfriendly gesture” could be just the first step on the part of the US, with more antiballistic missiles to follow.
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5 comments
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Marzipan6, A few days ago Estonian president Ilves had a word of advice to Mikheil Saakashvili that went sort of thus: stop whining about losing Abxhazia and Ossetia, and learn to live with the fact that the territories are lost. Ilves also advised Saakashvili that he is spending too much time over having lost the war and complaining about Russia. I think president Ilves should take you out for a beer and give you the same type of advice he gave Saakashvili. You are also expending too much time and energy lamenting over Russian refusal to recognize the past injustices committed against the Balts by the former USSR and Russian refusal to apologize. Time has come for you to realize that Russia will never apologize for the suffering of the Balts under the USSR.
Paul writes, “Russia tried to seek reconciliation in the 1990s and was stabbed in the back. Russia swallowed every bit of poison and pride that it was ordered to by the US, and what were the results?” This statement is emotional self-indulgence of a very high order. The US “ordered” Russia to do nothing, much less swallow “poison” or “pride”. Secondly, Russia has NEVER (“never” means NOT EVER) even expressed even the merest regret or condolence, let alone apologized, to the Baltics for Russians’ involvement in the illegal invasion and occupation of their countries, the murder and deportation into Siberian slavery of tens of thousands of their completely innocent civilians, and the oppression and ruination of their countries throughout nearly fifty years of illegal occupation. Nor to the best of my knowledge has Russia ever apologized to Poland for Russia’s joint destruction with their Nazi partners of their country in 1939, and for its oppression of Poland for almost half a century after the War. Russia’s sole concern in regard to its Soviet history seems to be to maintain Stalin’s own lies about it, to the deep offense of its Soviet era victims. Paul further wrote, “The problem is that there are too many people running around who equate Russia's independent policies with a desire to attack and invade. Nonsense!” Tell that to Georgia. Or to Estonia, whose air space Russian military planes violated just about on a weekly basis and took no notice of Estonian protests until NATO planes began patrolling Estonian air space. Russia is in deep denial about its own Soviet past, and locked into a self-imposed sullen hostility towards its neighbors, who request it to bring appropriate closure to Russia’s Soviet era aggression against them.
Poland should remember " Light not a fire so hot that it doth singe thyself." Becoming a missile target is not much fun. I thought everyone was pleased the Cold War ended?