Russia Threatens Military Action

The Bush administration is still trying to push the "missle defense shield" Bush wants to place in Europe. Bush claims it is to protect Europe from Iranian missles. On Tuesday, Condi Rice signed a deal with the Czech Republic to put part of the defense shield in that country. Another part is to be placed in Poland.

But Russia is not buying Bush's argument. They have told him in the past that they would consider putting this missle shield near their border to be a provacation. They believe the system is aimed at them instead of Iran.

It's easy to see why the Russians would be upset. If the shield was really aimed at Iran, then it would only make sense that it's placement should be in southern Europe. Placing it in Poland and the Czech Republic makes no sense to defend against Iran. However, it would be perfectly placed to defend against Russia.

Add to this the fact that Bush is well-known for lying. The Russians know he lied to the United Nations to get a mandate for military action against Iraq. They believe he is lying now about the defense shield, and they believe this would upset the delicate balance of power in the region.

Russia was very upset at the agreement signed Tuesday with the Czech Republic. Because of it, they upped their rhetoric and for the first time threatened military action. Their foreign ministry said, "If a US strategic anti-missile shield starts to be deployed near our borders, we will be forced to react not in a diplomatic fashion but with military-technical means."

It is not known exactly what they meant by that statement. It could mean they would redeploy their own missles on the border, or it could mean military action against Poland or the Czech Republic or both.

It is time for Bush to stop playing this deadly game. It is senseless to provoke Russia unnecessarily, especially since our own forces are so depleted from fighting an unecessary war against Iraq.

The missle shield should be moved to a more appropriate location, or abandoned altogether.