Recently, United States and Polish officials agreed on terms to build a ballistic missile defense system in Poland. There have been talks about such a program for more than two years.
    Many believe the crisis in Georgia sped up the negotiation process.
    A system like this is intended to provide Europe security in the case of a future attack by an adversary, like Iran. The program would house 10 interceptors that would be able to shoot down only a small number of ballistic missiles and a radar detection system would be placed in the Czech Republic.
    It is anticipated that the new security defense system would be up and running by 2012, with the U.S. and Poland sharing the costs, according to the New York Times on August 15.
    However, a Pentagon official explained an interesting agreement that went along with the deal — 100 American troops would stand alongside the Polish on their eastern border facing Russia. The operation was not created to be a defense from Russia, but this addition to the program has caused many to wonder why such a stalwart decision was made to place troops there.
    The agreement also states that the U.S. will defend Poland in case of an attack with greater magnitude than required for NATO assistance.
    “Poland and the Poles do not want to be in alliances in which assistance comes at some point later — it is no good when assistance comes to dead people,” said the Polish prime minister Donald Tusk on Polish television, according to the same New York Times article.
    Authorities in the Czech capital of Prague have shed light on other negative aspects of the agreement. Since the Czech Republic has officially decided to assist with the program, the nation has seen a drop-off in the number of oil shipments coming in from Russia. This could eventually lead to much larger energy problems down the road for the former Soviet-ruled country.
    Threats have been made from officials in Moscow for the last two years warning Poland to not press on with the deal. Therefore, Russia’s reaction should come as no surprise.
    Russia has called out the United States for allegedly breaking rules in its post-Cold War agreements. It was stated that the U.S. would not put troops in any former Soviet Bloc states.
    The chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian Parliament, Konstantin Kosachyov, told Interfax news, “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.”
    Russians are not the only ones angered by the new security deal. Many American Democrats have threatened to end the deal when the time comes for a vote to fund the program.
    An ally like Poland needs to be able to defend itself. To do this, the nation must be kept up to speed with technology. However, during times like these when world affairs are shaky, the United States would only be further deteriorating its relations with Russia by placing troops in Poland. Also, it would involve relocating American troops from areas where they could be better used, especially since they are already stretched so thin.


Nick A. Wilson is a sophomore in political science. Please send comments to opinion@spub.ksu.edu.