Russia To Deploy Tactical SSMs To Kalinigrad

Russian President Medvedev announced that his country will be deploying SSMs (that's Surface-to-Surface Missiles) to the Russian Baltic enclave of Kalinigrad to "neutralize" the planned US ABM systems in Poland.

This from the Beeb (where I snagged the image);

In his first state-of-the nation address, Mr Medvedev said Moscow would deploy the Iskander missile system in the Kaliningrad region - between Nato members Lithuania and Poland - to "neutralise - if necessary - the [US] anti-missile system".

"Naturally, we also consider using for the same purpose the resources of Russia's navy," he said.

Mr Medvedev also said Russia would jam the US anti-missile system electronically.

In his speech to lawmakers, the Russian leader also said the August war in Georgia had resulted from a "conceited" US foreign policy.

He said "the conflict in the Caucasus was used as a pretext for sending Nato warships to the Black Sea and also for the foisting on Europe of America's anti-missile systems".

Mr Medvedev, who succeeded Vladimir Putin in May, vowed that Russia "won't retreat in the Caucasus".

Something that, no doubt, gives the warm fuzzies to the nations of the Caucasus region.

The US needs to respond forcefully to this. Probably, the best thing to do would be to accelerate the deployment of Patriot missiles to Poland and create a permanent - if token - US naval presence in the Baltic. The Russians need to know that NATO is not going to be intimidated and that the US will stand by her allies.

This also means that the incoming Obama Administration needs to voice support for the deployment of the ABM system to Europe. Obama and his people have expressed attitudes towards missile defense that range from the skeptical to the hostile. At this point, however, backing down over Poland would send Russia the message that we are pulling back from Eastern Europe, returning it to the Russian sphere of influence.

As a final note,the Polish government has issued a statement saying they expect Obama to continue with the agreed upon deployment. This from Reuters;

Poland expects the incoming Obama administration to go ahead with the European missile defense shield, parts of which will be located on Polish soil, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said Wednesday.
[...]
Sikorski said Obama had told him some two months ahead of his election victory that he had concerns over the system's effectiveness and whether it was not directed against Russia, which condemns it as a threat to its security.

"If he is assured that it is not directed against Russia then he would lean toward doing the usual thing, which is to honor the agreements of his predecessors," Sikorski said in a radio interview.

The Czech upper house of parliament delayed a vote on hosting the shield until December when a newly composed assembly takes office after recent election.

Polish officials have said they do not expect its legislature to vote on the agreement until next year.

(Sources: Reuters , BBC, Washington Post)