The rush of the Bush administration to drive America's relationship with Russia further into the ground was hastened by a defense agreement signed with Poland last Wednesday.

Poland agreed, in return for the United States strengthening its defenses against Russia, that Washington could station 10 missile defense interceptors on Polish soil. They would be part of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System, testing of which is still under way.

The U.S. fortification of Poland's defenses would include a Patriot air defense system there manned by 100 U.S. troops and capable of shooting down missiles and warplanes. The U.S.-Polish agreement, in the works for more than a year, was concluded in the aftermath of the conflict between Georgia and Russia, although the White House claimed that there was no relationship between the developments.

Russia responded to the accord with a sharp threat from a senior military officer that Poland incurred the risk of retaliation, including with nuclear weapons. President Dmitry Medvedev softened the retort by calling the pact sad news but not dramatic. The threat and the damage, however, to Polish and U.S. relations with Russia remained.

Fortunately, the Polish parliament still has to approve the agreement, as does the Czech parliament on that nation's deal with the U.S. to install a radar tracking system on Czech soil. Congress has yet to approve the $712 million the Bush administration is seeking to build the installations.

The defense of Poland and the Czech Republic is a serious matter, but it is also provided by their membership in NATO, which they joined in 1999. If Russia attacked either of them, not only the United States but all 19 members of NATO would be required to come to their immediate defense.

It's hard to understand why the Bush administration is using historic Polish fears of Russia, accentuated by new developments in the Caucasus, to erect a U.S. military base in Poland. Why would Americans want to take the country back into the Cold War for no good reason?