U.S.' Gates Dismisses Russian Warnings to Poland

Ok, get this straight. We attacked Iraq because of non-existant weapons of mass destruction. We may attack Iran because they may have nuclear missiles some time in the future.

At the same time, Russia which has nuclear weapons (lots of them), threatens Poland wth them. The US reaction: "Hey, no biggie."

Reuters reports:

Pentagon chief Robert Gates dismissed as "empty rhetoric" on Sunday Russian warnings that Moscow would target Poland for a possible military strike because
Warsaw agreed to host part of a U.S. missile shield.

"Russia is not going to launch nuclear missiles at anybody," Defense Secretary Gates said on ABC News' "This Week." "The Poles know that. We know it."...

"I'm not quite sure why this deputy chief of staff felt compelled to make those kinds of threats," said Gates, an expert on Russia, terming his words were a throwback to
the old Soviet Union, when Moscow was Warsaw's overlord.

"We just want those in Russia who seem to be willing to look to the future, people perhaps like President (Dmitry) Medvedev, to perhaps begin to exercise more influence here and get some of these people's rhetoric under control," he said.