Posted on 06/23/2014 2:48:58 AM PDT by markomalley
Polands government has long been uneasy about the Obama administrations reset of relations with Moscow and its scaling down of a Bush-era missile defense plan, but private comments allegedly by Warsaws foreign minister have cast an awkward light on the relationship just weeks after a presidential visit.
Polands Wprost newsmagazine on Sunday quoted excerpts of what it said was a recording of a conversation between Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and a Polish lawmaker, in which the Sikorski says the alliance with the U.S. is worthless.
The man identified as Sikorski is quoted as saying, There is no doubt that the policy pursued by the prime minister and the defense minister is wrong. You know that the Polish-American alliance is worthless. It is even harmful, because it creates for Poland a false sense of security.
The second voice, said to be that of lawmaker and former Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski, asks why.
Complete bulls**t, says the first, adding that in the event of a conflict with the Germans or Russians Poland will mistakenly think that everything is super because of the close relationship with the Americans. (The speakers uses crude language here to describe the intimacy of that relationship.)
[We are] suckers, total suckers, he continues. The problem in Poland is that we have shallow pride and low self-esteem.
Wprost said it would release the actual audio clips on Monday or Tuesday, and a government spokeswoman declined to comment until the magazine makes available all illegally-recorded conversations in its possession.
The publication has released a series of snippets of embarrassing conversations involving high-level officials since June 14, and Prime Minister Donald Tusk has suggested he may call elections a year earlier than scheduled in response to the scandal.
A lawmaker in Tusks ruling Civic Platform party, Julia Pitera, told Polish television that the government's foreign policy is not the personal policy of Radoslaw Sikorski.
Foreign policy is being carried out well, so I hope this was just a demonstration of stupidity, she added.
Sikorski, an Atlanticist and former resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, is an ambitious politician who earlier this year was named as a contender for NATO secretary-general. The post eventually went to former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who will succeed Anders Fogh Rasmussen in October.
Last month Poland officially proposed Sikorski as a candidate to succeed European Union (E.U.) foreign policy chief Cathy Ashton.
Firm ally
The release of the alleged Sikorski comments comes less than three weeks after President Obama visited Poland as the E.U. and NATO member marked the 25th anniversary of the end of communism.
The only early response from the administration to Sundays report was a tweet by the U.S. ambassador to Poland, Stephen Mull, who said, Im not going to comment on alleged content of private conversations. As for our alliance, I think its strong.
Sikorski has not commented publicly to the claims, but retweeted Mulls message.
Poland has been an active ally of the U.S. It was one of just three countries to participate alongside the U.S. in the 2003 invasion of Iraq Britain and Australia were the others and maintained a sizeable troop presence there for longer than most, until an eventual withdrawal late in 2008.
Poland has also been among the leading contributors to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, and one of a very few European members not to apply caveats restricting how and where its troops operate there.
The Bush administration selected Poland as the location for interceptor missiles as part of its proposal for a ballistic missile defense (BMD) shield, designed to protect U.S. troops and allies from missile attack by Iran.
The plan to place the silo-based missiles in Poland, and an associated radar facility in the Czech Republic, angered Russia, which claimed the shield was aimed at countering its nuclear deterrent. In response to the proposal, the Kremlin periodically threatened to deploy short-range missiles in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave bordering Poland.
Clumsy
After Obama took office, he launched his touted reset of relations with Russia, and in pursuit of that goal later that year abandoned the BMD plan in favor of what it called a smarter, safer and swifter approach, focusing on a short- and medium-range missile threat. (Russia continues to oppose the alternative proposal, which inter alia involves a more modest missile defense facility in Poland in 2018.)
At the time when the administration was reviewing its predecessors BMD plans in 2009, the Polish government fretted that making concessions to Russia on missile defense would undermine U.S. credibility in those parts of Europe formerly under Soviet domination.
The eventual decision was announced on the day Poland was marking the 70th anniversary of the Red Armys invasion. Sikorski called it clumsy.
Polands leaders have invariably regarded Russia as a far more serious potential threat than Iranian missiles. That view was dramatically reinforced by Moscows intervention in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea this year, which set off alarm bells in Poland and other countries across eastern Europe.
The U.S. has taken pains to assure Poland and other anxious NATO allies in the region of its commitment to their security, and during his recent visit Obama announced plans for a $1 billion fund to increase U.S. troop rotations in eastern Europe.
His Polish hosts welcomed the news, but also hinted strongly that what Poland really wants is a NATO base on its soil something which Russia says the alliance pledged not to do when it admitted new members after the Cold War ended.
‘Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and a Polish lawmaker, in which the Sikorski says the alliance with the U.S. is worthless.’
Sikorski is right.
Only when you add Obama in place of U.S.
With the current cabal in the White House, Foggy Bottom, and Langly, yeah, he’s 100% correct.
As was their alliance with France and England. In time of extreme need a nation has only itself to rely on. As, when the need is extreme its allies fear getting dragged under by the drowning victim.
“As was their alliance with France and England.”
At least they went to war for Poland; it cost France its freedom. I think Poles today know that such actions wouldn’t be taken by the US; France learned the hard way (leaving NATO and developing its own nuclear arsenal).
‘Only when you add Obama in place of U.S.’
Obama is the driver of US polices toward our former friends. He has insulted them, he has backed out of promises he had made to traditional allies, he has done everything possible to drive a wedge between our country and those countries who have had our backs in the past.
I see no one moving to stop him. At this point, I am no longer certain who would come to our aid when we need it.
Sikorski is dead-on right.. and it will not improve with Hillary either.
I agree with your first statement but must take issue with your second.
Obama’s ignorance and incompetence can only be described that way if you believe that his actions are honest mistakes, that he did not intend for them to have the results they have had.
I believe his actions are a well thought out campaign to isolate our country and destroy any remaining good will our soon to be former allies may have for us. Link these actions in the foreign policy arena to his hallowing out of our military and I think you can not help but see the pattern.
This is a dilemma I have been wrestling with for years. I guess I chalk up his dismal record to his warped concept of Change for America and his inept abilities. I agree with you though, it does look intentional.
The baraq team is working to destroy our country.
But don’t forget, his party and his media that put him in power are working with him for the same ends.
And they think none of the aftermath will affect them.
Fools.
Through history, Poland has earned the right to trust no one — the hard way.
And I must admit, you shouldn’t trust the Caliph any further than you can throw him.
...well I would say they’ve done an excellent job thus far. Of course they’ll just say it was GW Bush’s fault. Serously, I never thought Carter could be outdone but there you go.
Around the world, they’re scratching their heads that the American people elected this Do-Do bird twice!
I do not see any of the things you mentioned changing in the foreseeable future. In fact, I believe that it will get worse.
Read the book of Revalations (Apocalypse in the Catholic Bible) and understand that it isn't over until our side wins.
“At least they went to war for Poland; it cost France its freedom. “
I can’t argue. I do think France was going down regardless. It amazes me that they’d spent so much money infectively. (I worked for the military division of Schlumberger. The companies essentially tell the military what they’re going to build and France buys it. Based on my experience with their equipment I wouldn’t use French anything. But that is neither here nor there.) Essentially, no country can rely on any other country for its existence. Obama has proven that. I expect that South Korea, Taiwan and Japan are busy building their own nuclear umbrellas right now. It’s ironic that Mr. Nobel Peace Prize will be responsible for the biggest nuclear arms race to date.
Yeah, he’s right - an alliance with the USA IS worthless if leftists are in power,
because they inherently treat our friends as enemies and our enemies as friends.
They get it wrong EVERY TIME.
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