Anne--

Are you the spouse of the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, as has been reported? If so, I think that this deserves to be disclosed. I am not suggesting that your opinion should be devalued because of that connection (perhaps the contrary), but I do think it should be disclosed.

She is. It's no secret.

How does this necessitate mention for this particular story? If her husband held an equivalent position for Italy, would it matter to you?

Is Poland really in more danger than, say, Sweden here, and are you arguing that Applebaum would have a personal stake in seeing Russia beat down a little, so that her family's Chobielin manor house didn't end up as a weekend retreat for some Gazprom louse?

I don't see the marriage as particularly relevant to this story.

Radiotone:

I don't see the marriage as particularly relevant to this story.

It's relevant because the conflict is about missle cooperation, not Georgia. It's just step one in a larger rollback across Western overreaching and bluster about satellite states. This ends when the US cries uncle, by choice or after Russian air defenses to the Iranians have changed the Middle East conflict. Making peace sooner could save the Polish radar sites. The US and its allies need Anne's bluster to declare victory while conceding defeat. Stoop to conquer.

Western overreaching? I read a lot about this, but the former Soviet republics are sovereign countries that each have a right to join NATO, the EU, the Axis of Evil, whatever. Russia also has the choice to chart its own path, which may mean alignment with the West or not. If Georgia or Ukraine want to align themselves with the West, or not, that's not overreaching by anyone...that's just sovereign countries making their own choices.

Do you apply the same logic to countries under the scope of the Monroe Doctrine? Venezuela? Ecuador? Bolivia? The Russians will be calling if this escalates enough. They've already been to Cuba in the last couple months to discuss deployment of its bombers. No offense to the piddly satellites, but this was never about any or all of them.