Washington, D.C.—Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was in Washington on March 10, 2008, negotiating with George W. Bush about the deployment of U.S. "missile defense" interceptors in Poland. Bush urgently wants to complete a deal before he leaves office so that he can leave at least some degree of a positive legacy.

Realizing that Bush is so anxious, the Poles are requesting more for hosting the missiles. They are asking for "assistance" in upgrading their military in return for agreeing to allow the U.S. base. Although Bush is making the promise, it appears that he is characteristically asking for time to deliver, reportedly six months. Poles are still awaiting the visa waivers that he promised years ago, so they are somewhat wary.

The Poles, by at least 50% according to recent polls, are opposed to the deal. They sense that this missile defense is just part of the U.S. effort to encircle Russia. On its part, Russia has announced that once the interceptors are put under ground in Poland that they will target the base with their nuclear weapons. Poland, which fought hard to get out of the middle of the last Cold War, will find itself near where it started.

Critics say that Poland and the Czech Republic are being used by America. Bush and Cheney know that the plan will earn millions for the aerospace industry. Poland and the Czech Republic want to be part of the expanding European Union economy, so the U.S. is leveraging this desire on their part to force them into becoming outposts for U.S.

There will be key activists from Poland and the Czech Republic at the annual organizing conference of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space in Omaha on April 11-13. They will be laying plans to resist the U.S. missile project.