Following an announcement that Poland has agreed to host an American global anti-missle shield, General Anatoly Nogovitsyn of Russian said that in doing so, Poland "is exposing itself to a strike." These comments and more by the General come amidth Moscow's fears that the missle shield makes Russia a target of the United States.

General Nogovitsyn continued, saying:

"By hosting these, Poland is making itself a target. This is 100 percent certain. It becomes a target for attack. Such targets are destroyed as a first priority."

Tension is already between the two former Cold War superpowers, as fighting in Georgia has strained relations.

President George Bush demanded Russia leave Georgia, and warned Russia today that it does not want "contentious relations" with the United States. Condoleeze Rice, the US Secretary of State, reiterated his sentiments, saying "Russian forces need to leave Georgia at once. This is no longer 1968."

Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's President, responded saying that they would strike back "in the same way we have responded" if it were further attacked.

General Nogovitsyn said in reference to the missle shield that Poland has agreed to host, that Russia's military doctrine sanctions the use of nuclear weapons "against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them."

President Medvedev said that the deal between the US and Poland "absolutely clearly demonstrates what we had said earlier - the deployment has the Russian Federation as its target."

Prior to the situation in Georgia, tension between the US and Russia had already begun rising. Disputes over the independence of Kosovo, the US's plans for a missle defense system in Eastern Europe, and NATO's expansion towards Russia's boarders were amongst some of the issues straining the two countries' relationship.

Under the terms of the agreement reached yeseterday by the US and Poland, Poland will accept an American missle interceptor base. The US will move a battery of Patriot missls from Germany to Poland as part of the deal, and will provide protection against short-range ballistic missles such as those being used by Russia in Georgia.

The system, which is not yet operation, is claimed by the US to be needed to protect the US and Europe from potential attacks by missle-armed "rogue states" such as Iran or terrorist groups like al Qaeda.

Nevertheless, Russia insists that the shield is a threat to its security, and feels that it will worsen tensions.