In 1991 I travelled through Indonesia. They are fierce badminton competitors and on the island of Ambon a 17 year-old challenged me to a game. The previous match was at a BBQ in upstate NY at Howie Montauk’s old cabin. I beat back every challenge and walked onto the dusty court behind a school with visions of glory.
The 17 year-old beat me 15-0, 15-1, 15-0.
It was his game.
And with equal ease the neo-Soviets overran South Georgia in a matter of days. The USA came to the defense of their ally with a TV filled with blustering ultimatum’s from the Bush regime. The stakes were heightened by Poland’s accepting the US offer to set up a missile defense system of 10 interceptors on their soil for completion in 2012. The radar system is planned for the Czech Republic. Russia obviously reacted with hostility to this encroachment on their former underling.
The interceptor system will be the Patriot missile which was famously deployed during the 1991 Gulf War against the Iraqi Scud missile. The name “Patriot” is an acronym of Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept Of Target. A more fanciful acronym was Protection Against Threats, Real, Imagined, Or Theorized.
“The Patriot is 41 for 42: 42 Scuds engaged, 41 intercepted!” Papa Bush declared at a Raytheon plant after the conflict, also claiming a 97% success ratio.
The truth was that the Patriot was effective against incoming attack planes, but almost useless against the speed of the missile.
Poland already has these systems, which are armed with either 4 or 16 missiles.
16 X 10 missile systems means 160 missiles to defend Poland and Eastern Europe from attack from Iran Iraq or Martians.
The Pentagon says that their placement of a single American Patriot battery from Germany to Poland and its 100 personnel is a valid strategy in the present atmosphere of heightened tension between Russia and the USA.
Same as the invasion of Iraq.
“If you don’t play the game you don’t lose.”
Read Alan Furst THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT
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