Posted on 03/18/2022 4:00:39 AM PDT by FarCenter
As the conflict in Ukraine rages, residents of a region in northern Poland that will house a US missile facility worry they could become Russian targets in case of a wider conflict.
"If a serious armed conflict breaks out, the first strike will target our shield," said Ryszard Kwiatkowski, the former deputy mayor of the town of Slupsk, home to around 90,000 people.
Washington has said the facility in the nearby village of Redzikowo, which will become operational this year, is intended to defend the West from ballistic missiles fired by countries like Iran.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken out against the facility, saying it is not purely defensive and is instead aimed at Russia.
Bases like Redzikowo are at the heart of Russian demands for the NATO military alliance to pull back deployments from ex-communist eastern Europe.
A similar US facility -- officially called Aegis Ashore -- is already up and running in Romania.
Kwiatkowski has been a critic of the facility since work began in 2016.
He is also sceptical about its defensive purpose.
"There are no offensive or defensive systems. All military systems are aggressive," he told AFP.
He said it was "absurd" to say that the facility was intended as a defence against countries like Iran and warned that missiles based in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad could easily strike Redzikowo.
"From the start it was intended (as a defence) against Russia. Now they are not hiding it any more," he said.
The former local official also complained that the installation was based in a former airport where there could have been an industrial zone and said it has put off potential investors from the area.
(Excerpt) Read more at france24.com ...
We’re paying more than any investor would to be at the location. I guess even Poland has a few idiot liberals running around.
Soooo..... does this mean that the North and South Poles are converging or is the military divided on where to put a their next base. I’m so confused.
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