Seventy years ago today, Poland suffered invasion. Today, the United States shut down its Eastern European missile defense program. This act could mean one of two things:

1. A giant middle-finger to Poland and other nations like Czech Republic; to simply let them twist in the wind if or when Russia decides to roll on in.

2. A bargaining chip with Russia; Something we can diplomatically point to as “See? We lowered this defense because we trust you. Help us kick ass militarily/economically/etc against Iran/Korea/China.”

I don’t know if I can give our administration credit for the second scenario, but it certainly is easier to swallow even if it’s not entirely easy to digest. If the second situation holds, it has likely already been used for negotiation for under-the-table dealings with Russia. What would we have to gain from weakening our position on pure speculation? Maybe that’s why I don’t feel comfortable giving this administration credit: I can imagine it being so poor at diplomacy to try it to see if it worked.