THE TELEGRAPH: Last month, Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's hawkish ambassador to Nato refused to reveal how the Kremlin would retaliate if Poland agreed to co-host an American missile defence shield.
But he did promise that the response would come as a "pleasant surprise" for the West.
Just as he intended, the Kremlin's reply was neither pleasant nor, entirely, a surprise.
Alongside the ambitions of Georgia and Ukraine to join Nato, missile defence has been the principal source of tension between Moscow and the West. Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, has threatened to retrain nuclear missiles on Europe for the first time since Soviet times and Russia has already walked away from an arms treaty that was pivotal in ending the Cold War.
But the Russians have gone even further in their threats. Poland faces not just the prospect of having Russian missiles pointing in its direction but also risks "100 percent" a military attack. And not just any attack, if Gen Anatoly Nogovitysn is to be believed, but a nuclear attack.
Under Russia's military doctrine, the country's deputy chief of staff explained, the Kremlin had every justification to launch a nuclear strike against Poland if the missile shield is built.
These are strong words and we have yet to see whether this is mere bluster. Dmitry Medvedev, the president, struck a slightly more moderate note but Mr Putin, the real power in Russia, has not yet given his reaction.
Poland, unlike Georgia, is already a member of Nato. A Russian military assault on the country would, if Warsaw were to invoke article five of the Nato treaty, oblige Britain and the other members of the alliance to come to Poland's rescue. In other words, it could be the beginning of World War III. Analysis: Russia Is a Foe to Be Reckoned With >>> By Adrian Blomfield in Tbilisi | August 15, 2008
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