The Thousand-Mile Doorstep

Matt Welch | August 14, 2008

There is much one could say about this claim by L.A. Times columnist Rosa Brooks:

Th[e] U.S. also insisted this summer on the deployment of an almost certainly useless missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, virtually on Moscow's doorstep.

I'll just focus on this: How virtual is that doorstep? Here's how far the eastern-most big city of the Czech Republic is from the Russian capital:

That's 1,000 miles. The Czechs aren't even neighbors of any of mainland Russia's neighbors. If 1,000 miles is the new "doorstep," then Russia's on the doorstep of the United States, more than half of Europe, much of Asia, and almost all of the Middle East. Run for your lives!