Those are not arguments for why medium-range missiles on your border is not a first-strike capability, those are arguments for why nobody would want to spend money on putting a first-strike capability on your border.

The problem with the "no sane person would want to do that" line of reasoning is that that is also the reason the first world war didn't happen.

The further, more specific problem with that line of reasoning, in this context, is that the official reason for the facilities in question is not possible. So if you accept the notion that the Americans were building a missile defense system in Poland, then you are already operating under the assumption that the Americans are insane. Now we're just haggling over the flavor of insanity involved.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.