Russia Amps Up the Bluster over Missile Defense

Here’s the latest on stalled talks between NATO and Russia regarding a European missile defense system:

Russian Chief of General Staff Nikolai Makarov, in a sign of the tension between Russia and the United States over the missile defense plans, said during an international conference that a strike by his country might be possible. “A decision to use destructive force preemptively will be taken if the situation worsens,” Makarov said.

….Russian officials Thursday showed a computerized version of imaginary strikes by Russian nuclear missiles on imaginary targets on the U.S. East Coast.

This doesn’t seem to be attracting a lot of attention, so maybe it’s just a minor escalation of the usual bluster. But, um, really? Russia is threatening a preemptive air strike against a NATO base in Poland? And hauling out maps of Russia raining down nukes on New York City? WTF?