US and Polish officials signed a deal on Thursday for Poland to host a system the US says is aimed at blocking attacks by rogue nations, such as Iran.
But Moscow is convinced the base is aimed at Russia’s missile force.
“Poland, by deploying (the system) is exposing itself to a strike; 100 per cent,” General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of staff of Russia’s armed forces, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
He added that Russia’s military doctrine sanctions the use of nuclear weapons “against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons, if they in some way help them”. General Nogovitsyn also said that would include elements of strategic deterrence systems.
President Dmitry Medvedev said the deal “absolutely, clearly demonstrates what we had said earlier: the deployment has the Russian Federation as its target”.
I’m sure that if we tell the Russians they should just get over it, this whole thing will blow over.
Huh? The Russians confirmed that Poland is a potential target in a nuclear exchange. So are all nuclear powers, including United States, China, France, the U.K., Pakistan, India, North Korea, and presumably Israel.
That’s not exactly the same as “Russian General threatens to nuke the US, India, and China!” There’s nothing to suggest an imminent strike.
Very depressing. You would’ve thought we’d see real reform in Russia after the fall of communism, but things haven’t changed much. I have to wonder what a typical Russian really thinks about a missile defense shield a thousand miles away in a country that doesn’t even boarder Russia. Oh, right, Russia doesn’t consider Belarus or Ukraine to be REAL countries…
I agree that it’s a bit misleading to say that the “Russians are threatening” Poland. By default, it’s very little different from the position Poland put itself in by joining NATO. By hosting the base, Poland is putting itself in a potential crossfire situation, but that is true of any country that hosts a US base.
So, much to do about nothing, IMHO, other than a Russian general being brutally honest.
Naturally. If they were, I would have written “so are all other nuclear powers …” Clearly, being a nuclear power is not a necessary condition to being nuked by Russia - or America, for that matter.
It’s just as misleading as last year’s stories about “Pentagon has drawn up plans to attack Iran!!” No kidding! Their whole job is to draw up plans, which is not the same as an intention to attack. They probably have plans to attack France and New Zealand. If not, they should.
Metric system again? Russia is within four hundred miles of Poland. That’s less than the distance from Key West to Tallahassee, and certainly within the range of a short-range ballistic missile.
I find it continually amazing how people fall for this. Oh yes, they’re just doing routine maintenance on the Iran plan, they’re definitely not gearing up to attack.
Magnet’s point is that the press sensationalizes even the news that such plans exist in the first place. As if a country never thinks about contingencies and makes plans to meet them.
Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if somewhere in the Pentagon there is a contingency plan to invade Canada.
I don’t know where the missile shield will be placed, but the distance between Sokolka, Poland and Sebezh, Russia (two cities I picked which seemed to be fairly close to each other) is a mere 280.7 miles.
Belarus is also in the CIS… so in fact the missile shield borders Russia’s direct sphere of influence.
I didn’t say Russia wasn’t that close. I said a Russian that is a thousand miles away. Are you telling me a hypothetical Russian that I made up, in my head, and proposed is a thousand miles from the missile shield ISN’T ACTUALLY that far away? Moscow to Warsaw is 717 miles. The logical location of the base is on the Czech republic boarder, where the proposed radar station is also being built, abet in Czech republic. That would be about a 1,000 miles. I think this hypothetical Russian is not very improbable.
Well, he’s your hypothetical Russian, so I guess you can decide what he thinks about the missile shield. But I will postulate that he is equally nonplussed as a hypothetical American in Miami watching a small-scale war unfold in South Ossetia, 6500 miles away.
