A Start, Hopefully

Poland remains exposed to Russia notwithstanding Poland's entry into NATO. We simply don't have military plans drawn up to repel a Russian invasion of our newest NATO members. Yes, that is unlikely in the near future. But with a Russian cyber-war against Estonia, a real war against Georgia, and subversion in Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine, how sure should we be that such a threat won't arise?

So it is good to see, at long last, Americans on the ground in Poland:

Dozens of American soldiers and a battery of Patriot missiles have arrived in Poland, where they will spend the next two years teaching the Polish military to operate the advanced guided missile system at a base just a few miles from the Russian border.

The mission amounts to the most significant deployment ever of U.S. forces to Poland, which once was behind the Iron Curtain but is now an enthusiastic member of NATO.

Though Russia had expressed its strong opposition to having a U.S. military installation close to its border, there was no initial reaction from Moscow to the arrival of the missiles — perhaps an indication that it wants to play down the matter after failing to stop the deployment.

Although until we get something like REFORPOL set up in Poland, our presence is only a tripwire that counts on our credibility to work.