Kurt Bassuener August 15th, 2008

In an ominous development, the Washington Post reports a Russian reaction to yesterday’s missile defense deal:

In Moscow today, Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian general staff, said that a newly-signed missile defense deal between the U.S. and Poland “cannot go unpunished,” the Associated Press reported. He did not elaborate.

I’ve always thought the Bush administration’s fixation on missile defense was a bad idea, and that hasn’t changed.  But one has to wonder what sort of punishment Moscow might have in mind, seeing as the last time that word was used, it was employed by President Medvedev to describe the military operations against Georgia.

Given Moscow’s reaction, it is understandable why Poland would want bilateral assurances, on top of NATO commitments, and direct assistance from Washington as the cost for deploying the missile defense interceptors.  The New York Times reports today:

The deal reflected growing alarm in a range of countries that had been part of the Soviet sphere, about a newly rich and powerful Russia’s intentions in its former cold war sphere of power. In fact, negotiations dragged on for 18 months — but were completed only as old memories and new fears surfaced in recent days.

Those fears were codified to some degree in what Polish and American officials characterized as unusual aspects of the final deal: that at least temporarily American soldiers would staff air defense sites in Poland oriented toward Russia, and that the United States would be obliged to defend Poland in case of an attack with greater speed than required under NATO, of which Poland is a member….

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.

• Uncategorized