You're reading: WikiLeaks: Poland was angry with US in 2008 over missile deal

When Poland learned in 2008 that the U.S. would not be giving it operational Patriot missiles to bolster its defenses, one minister dismissed what his nation would be getting instead as "potted plants," according to a newly released diplomatic cable.

The document, released by WikiLeaks and published by Britain’s The Guardian newspaper, came as Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski was preparing to visit the White House on Wednesday for the first time.

Komorowski did not discuss the issue before flying to the U.S. on Tuesday, but Poland’s prime minister said the American negotiating tactics described in the cable left Poland "stripped of all illusions" about the way the United States deals with even its closest allies.

The document refers to U.S.-Polish talks ahead of the establishment of a military base in Poland in May where U.S. soldiers are now training the Polish military to use Patriot missiles — but without the real weapons.

Poles had initially expected operational missiles to be sent to the base in Morag town in northeastern Poland. But according to the secret cable, the Poles learned in the fall of 2008 that the U.S. only intended to send soldiers and training equipment — and not the missiles themselves, at least not at first.

That base is just 37 miles (60 kilometers) from Russia’s westernmost point, and Russia had opposed having missiles so close to its own borders.

The Patriot deal was negotiated as a reward to Poland for its willingness to let the U.S. station missile defense interceptors in Poland — a plan that President Barack Obama has since scaled back.

In the cable, Victor Ashe, then-U.S. ambassador to Poland, wrote in February 2009 that Poland had expected operational Patriots that could be integrated into its own air defenses. He wrote that when the deputy defense minister at the time, Stanislaw Komorowski, learned that Poland would not initially get live missiles, the Polish official reacted in anger.

Ashe wrote that Polish officials "have expectations — some naive, some tactical — that they are making increasingly clear. For example, when told last autumn that the Patriots would not be integrated — at least initially — into the Polish air defense system, Deputy Defense Minister Komorowski angrily responded that Poland expected to have operational missiles, not ‘potted plants.’"

Despite that, it appears the Poles agreed to whatever U.S. military presence they could get on their soil. The former communist country fears that Russia could one day become a threat and sees U.S. military protection as an important safeguard.

Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister since 2007, said Tuesday his country should draw the lesson that there should be no illusions in politics — not even with allies.

Despite the shattered illusions, Poland remains a NATO member with troops in Afghanistan and continues to seek closer military cooperation with Washington.

Defense Ministry spokesman Janusz Sejmej said that Poland hopes Obama and Komorowski will reach a deal to station several American F-16 fighter jets and Hercules transport planes in Poland starting in 2013 for training and joint exercises.