It was no surprise when leaders from the other four flew with the Polish president to Tbilisi to express solidarity with Georgia's Mikheil Saakashvili.It was also no coincidence that Poland signed a deal with the Americans to host missile-defence interceptors.
Under the Bush administration, Poland agreed to host 10 missile interceptors for a proposed anti-ballistic missile defence system, a project that triggered a crisis in US-Russian relations.
Under the agreement, Poland would host 10 missile interceptors, intended to shoot down a small number of ballistic missiles.
MOSCOW — Russian officials reacted coolly on Friday to the news that Romania had agreed to host American missile interceptors starting in 2015, with a top envoy saying that the announcement could directly affect Moscow's position as negotiations to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or Start, reach their conclusion.
There are also differences between the hawkish and isolationist wings of each party, differences between the Pentagon and State Department's approaches, differences among our allies who support the program, differences among the countries that would host the missile shield, and differences among military commanders themselves.
A recently reported offer by the prime minister to host interceptor missiles - which would shoot down enemy missiles on their way to the US - was made without any public or parliamentary consultation.
If Britain were to host US missiles it would be the first time US cruise missiles were based in Europe since the end of the Cold War.
The forward radar for the system was to be in the Czech Republic, and Poland would host the missiles that would shoot down any long-range ballistic missiles Iran might let fly.
Neighbouring Lithuania says it will happily host the missiles.
Officials have promised the bruised Poles and Czechs "first refusal" to host these missiles; but would they risk it again?
The Czech Republic had already agreed to host the missile-tracking radar".We have crossed the Rubicon," said the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, as the deal was done.
