The US/Poland deal was about more than Star War missiles:

US, Poland agree to anti-missile defense deal
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/14/AR2…

Poland and the United States struck a deal Thursday that will strengthen military ties and put an American missile interceptor base in Poland….

In an interview on news channel TVN24, Tusk said the United States agreed to help augment Poland’s defenses with Patriot missiles in exchange for placing 10 missile defense interceptors in the eastern European country.

He said the deal also includes a “mutual commitment” between the two nations to come to each other’s assistance “in case of trouble.”

Talking about the “mutual commitment” part of the agreement, Tusk said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would be too slow in coming to Poland’s defense if threatened and that the bloc would take “days, weeks to start that machinery.”

“Poland and the Poles do not want to be in alliances in which assistance comes at some point later _ it is no good when assistance comes to dead people. Poland wants to be in alliances where assistance comes in the very first hours of _ knock on wood _ any possible conflict,” Tusk said.