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To die for Poland?

There seems to be a growing recognition among some pundits that the U.S. shouldn’t support NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine, and that by extension, an attack on Georgia and Ukraine is not an attack on the U.S. Great! But at the same time, the same pundits seem to accept it as a given that […]

There seems to be a growing recognition among some pundits that the U.S. shouldn’t support NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine, and that by extension, an attack on Georgia and Ukraine is not an attack on the U.S. Great! But at the same time, the same pundits seem to accept it as a given that an attack on Poland is an attack on the U.S. That explains why no one in Congress and the MSM has posed any challenges to the recent U.S.-Poland missile deal which is aimed at Russia and which basically sets up a U.S. “tripwire” in Poland. If the Russians attack the U.S. manned “shield,” the Americans will be forced to retaliate. As The New York Times explained:

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

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.

According to the Times there has been an ongoing debate in Poland over whether to approve the deal that would allow the U.S. to protect Poland. But interestingly enough, there hasn’t been any debate in Washington, Congress, and the MSM on whether the American people are ready to die for Poland. Perhaps I missed it.

And this is from the Times’ report:

Public support for the missile deal was far from universal on the streets of Warsaw. Some residents said the threat was being hyped by leaders for political gain, and others maintained that any steps that might provoke Russia were a mistake.“It’s the dumbest thing we could have done,” said Slawomir Janak, 72, a retiree. “This decision is going to have its repercussions on Poland for a long time. It might even lead to the third world war.”

But most said it was a necessary step.

“If the Western nations don’t defend such a strategic target as the pipelines in Georgia, why should they defend Poland, which is less strategic?” said Szymon Chlebowski, 22, a student from Gdansk out for a stroll down Warsaw’s grand boulevard, Krakowskie Przedmiescie. “In the perspective of five years, I see a real threat for Poland, starting in the Baltic nations, north to south first, and then Poland, with the same lack of reaction by Western nations.”

“As in the Second World War,” said Joanna Skicka, 22, who was with him. “The story will repeat itself.”

Mr. Chlebowski said he and his friends had started discussing where they would go if Poland were attacked. In a sign of Poland’s orientation to the West, they said they planned to escape to Italy or Spain.

So I suppose we have to be thankful to the Poles for allowing us to fight for them if they were attacked by Russia (their traditional enemy; not ours) and giving them a chance to flee to Italy and Spain?

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