When Bush announced plans to open missile defense sites in Poland and Chenya, he gave Russia the creeps.

The U.S. said those silo-bunkered rockets would be against an Iranian threat. Later it was added that they would protect Europe.

But for some curious reasons Russians fear that these harmless defense missiles could endanger them.

Now Putin came up with an interesting idea.

Why not put these rockets into Azerbaijan? That country is a northern neighbor of Iran. From there, radar surveillance of Iranian missile launches and defense measures against any long range Iranian missiles would be easy to do.

Putin has already cleared the idea with the president of Azerbaijan and there is even a radar site already available on a Russian base. His troops would help to put everything else in place and would make sure that any U.S. personal would be kept well.

"What is not to love with that idea George?"

Of course Putin knows that the original U.S. claims are false.

Iran does not have long range rockets and does not have the capacity, knowledge and intent to build such. They buy their short/medium ranged rockets, or major parts for those, in North Korea.

The U.S. installation plans were a suprise for the Europeans. If the plans were to protect Europe, why didn’t the Europeans know about such? Why wasn’t NATO involved?

The site in Poland is even quite odd as a defensive site against Russian intercontinental rockets. Those would fly from Russian grounds north over the pole to hit the U.S. – Poland lies west of Russia.

Missiles in silos may be for missile defense or for offensive use as ground-to-ground missiles. The difference is in the warhead and the software. With rockets in silos in Poland, some maintenance could easily change the declared purpose of these.

The only purpose where such a U.S. missile site makes sense is in an offensive capacity against Russia. Nuclear tipped offensive rockets in Poland would leave Russia with a warning time of only very few minutes. The Russians, having been invaded several times with devastating consequences, take any threat against Rodina, the Russian motherland, very seriously.

The INF treaty of 1988 eliminated intermediate-range missiles in Europe. NATO scrapped their Pershing II’s and the USSR did away with their SS-20. Russia now fears that Bush or his successors will ignore that international contract just like Bush shredded the Anti-Ballistic-Missile treaty.

The site in NATO Poland is, from the Russian point of view, a deadly threat. But some missiles in Azerbaijan, more or less under Russian military control, should be no problem.

Bush has publicly stated the purpose of the missiles is defense against a threat from Iran. He has offered the Russians cooperation on missile defense. Why would he now reject the Russian offer?

The public, maybe not in the U.S., but in Poland, Chechia and other European countries is against the project. If Bush does not find some plausible reason to say ‘Njet’ to Putin’s offer – and I can’t think of one – the project may well be as dead as it should be.

The folks in the Kremlin are certainly having a good laugh now.