From the Telegraph: Reflecting Warsaw’s long-standing anger over the 2009 cancellation of a controversial Bush-era anti-ballistic missile system President Bronislaw Komorowski said Poland should build its own missile shield to ensure national defence.
"Our mistake was that by accepting the American offer of a shield we failed to take into account the political risk associated with a change of president," said Mr Komorowski in a magazine interview. "We paid a high political price. We do not want to make the same mistake again. We must have a missile system as an element of our defences. . . ."
US pledges to place a Patriot missile battery in Poland, and elements of the SM-3 interceptors which will replace the Bush system, failed to eradicate the perception in Warsaw that Polish interests had been sacrificed for the benefit of Washington-Moscow relations.
By wishing to avoid another "mistake", Mr Komorowski has questioned the long-term viability of the US made SM-3 system, which is intended to secure Nato’s eastern flank from missile attacks launched from the Middle East.
From RIA Novosti: "Spending large sums on military hardware is actually meaningless if it is not secured from… the missile attack and air raids,” Komorowski said, adding that Polish shield must be a part of the existing European missile defense system. (photo: AFP/Getty)
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