SO OFFENDING OUR ALLIES WAS POINTLESS:

US, Poland sign missile shield deal during Clinton visit (Mark Hallam, 7/03/10, AFP)

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday oversaw the signing of the key missile base agreement as part of a revamped version of the controversial missile defense shield plan. [...]

Poland had agreed with the previous US adminstration led by George Bush to host a permanent US military base and missiles at a disused airstrip near the Baltic Sea coast.

But US President Barack Obama decided last year to abandon the Bush-era plan to set up a major defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic.