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Poland Agrees To Host U.S. Missile Defense Site

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The New York Times

Published: August 15, 2008

WASHINGTON - The United States and Poland closed 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.

Russia reacted angrily, saying the move would worsen relations with the United States, already strained severely in the week since Russian troops entered separatist enclaves in Georgia, a close American ally.

But the deal also reflected growing alarm in countries such as Poland, once a conquered Soviet satellite state, 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 over the past few days.

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

"It is this kind of agreement, not the split between Russia and United States over the problem of South Ossetia, that may have a greater impact on the growth in tensions in Russian-American relations," said Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian parliament. The missile-base pact was announced by Polish officials and confirmed by the White House.

Under the agreement, Poland would host a U.S. base with 10 interceptors designed to shoot down a limited number of ballistic missiles, in theory launched by a future adversary such as Iran. Early warning radars would be based in the Czech Republic.

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 to Poland from Germany, where it would be operated by a crew of about 100 members of the U.S. military that would rotate in and out.

The expenses would be shared by both nations.

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