Missile Denial

U.S. news sources today began picking up a story from the Polish Gazeta Wyborcza, which suggested U.S. officials had pretty much already decided to scrap plans to station missile defense assets in Poland and the Czech Republic.

We asked Missile Defense Agency spokesman Richard Lehner this afternoon if there was any truth to this.

"Nope," he replied in an e-mail.

Of course, the Obama administration's review of the issue, when finished, could very well result in the termination of the Poland/Czech Republic option, or at least a significant tweaking. After all, scientists have called into question the technical feasibility of the undertaking.

But last month, Missile Defense Agency Director Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly chose the words "standing commitment" in describing the basing plans for the two countries that were hatched under the Bush administration.