Poland Wants 'to Leave Dirty Work' of Defense to Washington

By creating and fueling the idea of the Russian threat, the new Polish government is trying to make NATO members, particularly the United States, station their troops in Poland at their own expense, said Doug Bandow, a senior research fellow at the Cato Institute, according to the National Interest.

Currently, the chances of Russia invading Central and Eastern Europe are virtually non-existent. Yet the Polish government tries very hard to persuade its NATO allies, especially the United States, to contribute more funds and to station more troops in the country.

By doing so, Poland essentially wants the United States to pay the bill for its own security, the US military analyst said.

Since there is no threat in Central and Eastern Europe, Washington should stop being manipulated by some European nations, including Poland.

"The Europeans want to leave the dirty work of defending their continent to Washington," Bandow, who is also a former special assistant to US President Ronald Reagan, said, as cited by the National Interest.

The problem is that Washington also wants to be in charge in Europe, so Europeans use it to slash their own military spending, knowing that if push comes to shove and there is a real possibility a military confrontation, the United States would always be there to provide their security.

In other words, both European nations and US leaders in Washington like the current system. Everyone is happy, except US citizens, whose tax dollars are spent to provide security to Eastern and Central European nations against a non-existent threat, Bandow explained.

That's why this has to change, the author argued, adding that the times of a US-dominated NATO disappeared years ago.

"It's time for the allies to discuss what comes next. Perhaps a European-run NATO… Perhaps a continental defense tied to the European Union," Bandow said.

At this point it could be anything which would require Europeans to take care over their own defense and make their own contributions without relying on the United States to pay their bills. As for Washington, it has other things to do than putting its soldiers in Eastern and Central Europe waiting for a Russian invasion, which everyone knows would never happen, the military analyst said.

In October of 2015, the nationalist Law and Justice Party won Poland's parliamentary elections, winning nearly 38 percent of the vote. The Law and Justice party supports a greater NATO presence in Poland.