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| Europe |
| 80 U.S. soldiers to train Poland on missile defense |
| 2010-07-14 |
| About 80 U.S. soldiers are training their Polish counterparts on how to use the Patriot Missile system. This is happening at a Polish base just 37 miles from the Russian border in a town called Morag. The American troops will be spending a month in Poland each quarter to do this for the next two years. It’s the first long-term U.S. troop presence here in Poland. The American Ambassador to Poland, Lee Feinstein, said, “It’s U.S. boots on the ground, a very tangible symbol of the U.S.-Polish alliance.” The Patriot launchers are not armed. It’s a training exercise that could lead to the eventual deployment of the missile system in Poland. One Polish officer told Fox News that this is the first time since the fall of the Soviet empire that foreign troops have been in Poland. In exchange, the U.S. troops will get to learn about Polish defense systems, which are old Soviet models that have been modernized by Warsaw. The Americans in Morag say this will be a worthwhile experience for them as well. The Russians initially bristled at this American troop presence, and the Patriot system, right on its border. The Russian Foreign Minister said last January that he “couldn’t comprehend the need to create the impression that Poland is bracing itself against Russia.” Those fears seem to have subsided, and the rhetoric cooled down. A Russian military attaché has recently observed the set-up in Morag. Russian-Polish relations have started to warm in the aftermath of the solemn memorial held last spring in Katyn, and in the wake of the tragic loss of the Polish President and many members of the government in a plane crash last April in Russia. Meanwhile, plans to counter a longer-range threat than the Patriot can handle, for example, the potential threat of an attack from Iran, are developing. |
| Posted by:American Delight |