In Other News

This will surely aggravate The Angry Left (yes my dear KKKossies, I'm thinking of you). It will be interesting to see if the subject comes up during tomorrow's White House press briefing - and how Fat Boy handles it.

U.S. Navy Successfully Uses Laser to Shoot Down Drones

The U.S. Navy has used a a laser weapon to shoot down four unmanned aerial vehicles in a test that rings up memories of Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" missile defense shield in the 1980s.

The successful test of the Laser Weapon System off the coast of California was announced during the Farnborough International Air Show, which is taking place this week in England.

The technology, jointly developed with Raytheon, used industrial strength lasers, is more than just your run-of-the-mill PR exercise. In its write-up of the technology, Scientific American correctly notes that the shoot-down of the drones over water constitutes an advance over previous Raytheon tests which focused on static targets.

Mike Booen of Raytheon gave USA Today the money quote for the day: "The targets came in over the ocean, and it was a good day for lasers, bad day for drones."

Still, don't expect deployment any time soon. Even if the follow-up tests come through with flying colors, the technology is likely going to take several more years before it's ready for combat situation. (Coincidentally, the breakthrough made the rounds on the anniversary of the day that U.S. astronauts walked on the moon in 1969.

Vladimir Paranoid just shit.

Via CBS News

Conquering From Within

Shortly before the Czechs announced that Milquetoast Diplomacy had trumped the planned missile defense posts in the Czech Republic and Poland, RIA Novosti (Russian Information Agency) published an editorial by Andrei Fedyashin that was focused primarily on Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and his National Intelligence Strategy. Fedyashin concludes his article with clear insight to, and understanding of, the utterly naive worldview of Barack Obama.

[....]

[....]

Now Blair is ready to give American intelligence agencies broader counterintelligence missions. In the past, counterintelligence was directed primarily at exposing foreign spies. Now it has been elevated to the level of a priority mission for the entire American intelligence community. The NIS states that the targets are now not only foreign governments but also "non-state actors, violent extremist groups, cyber intruders and criminal organizations", which are increasingly undermining U.S. interests in many different ways. It cites attempts to "manipulate U.S. policy and diplomatic efforts, disrupt or mitigate the effectiveness of our military plans and weapons systems, and erode our economic and technological advantage."

The last phrase should be remembered. It is significant in the context of the afore-mentioned nuclear threat coming from Iran and North Korea, and Russia's "global revisionism." After such statements it is difficult to believe that Obama has given up on the deployment of new components of the missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. This prospect seems even less likely in light of the fact that Republicans and neo-Conservatives have launched a fierce campaign against him.

A special conference on missile defense in Europe was recently put on by the influential far-right Heritage Foundation, located in Washington, D.C. Leading right-wing political analysts stated at that conference that Russia's approach to the problem does not reflect the realities of this century, and is based on the failure to comprehend American technological achievements. The message is clear - if Obama rejects the plan drafted under Bush, it will mean that he also fails to comprehend many things in the United States. And that is very bad for America.

No doubt, Putin is laughing his ass off. "Mine! Mine! Europe is all mine!"

Read it all.

"European speech of the year"

Obama to make "European speech of the year" in Prague

Barack Obama doesn’t arrive in Prague until April 4th, but an “advance team” of advisors are already here to scout out locations for what the Czech prime minister Mirek Topolánek says will be Mr Obama’s “European speech of the year.” Quite what he’ll say in it remains to be seen, with fresh questions raised this week over the future of the planned U.S. missile defence shield in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Early April in Prague is notoriously fickle; some years it’s freezing and grey, others it’s spring in full bloom, with blazing sunshine and clear blue skies. Those involved in Mr Obama’s trip must be hoping for the latter, as the U.S. president could be making his keynote speech – being tipped as his “European speech of the year” – in the open air. An advance team of advisors is already checking out possible locations, with Prague Castle, the Old Town Square and the embankment in front of the Rudolfinum concert hall all apparently in play.

Just what he’ll say is hard to guess. But certainly he’ll be under pressure to say something about plans to build a radar base on Czech soil as part of the missile defence shield, an agreement that was signed with the previous Bush administration. Mr Obama seems less keen on missile defence and – unlike Mr Bush – is certainly in no hurry to start deploying it in earnest.

A progressive defend America and her allies? Such mishegas.

There were fresh worries this week for Mr Topolánek’s centre-right government after it emerged in the Russian and American media that Mr Obama had sent a secret letter to his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, reportedly offering to abandon missile defence in exchange for help in stopping Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The White House has not commented publicly on the claims, but if confirmed, they would be a major political embarrassment for Mr Topolánek. He’s spent a good deal of political capital on the radar base, which still lacks approval in the lower house of parliament.

BarryO's letter to Putie's beard was as productive as his video message to Iran.

For now, though, the focus of the Czech media is on Mr Obama’s itinerary. It seems he will arrive in Prague on the evening of Saturday April 4th, to be welcomed by President Václav Klaus. Sunday he’ll apparently have breakfast with former President Václav Havel, before meeting leaders of the EU’s 27 member countries, and making his promised speech.

President Obama is due to be accompanied by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well as his wife Michelle, something that could cause headaches for the prime minister’s protocol team. Mr Topolánek is separated from his wife and lives with his girlfriend, fellow Civic Democrat MP Lucie Talmanová. For the photo calls either he will appear alone alongside Barack and Michelle Obama, or with Ms Talmanová. The protocol team must decide which – in the absence of a married partner - is the lesser evil.

WTF, ask HRH Hillary how she'd handle it.

Via Radio Prague

Russians Kvetch & Bluster

Russia vows missile defence deal response
Russia has accused America of starting a new arms race by locating part of its missile defence shield in Poland and warned that its response would go beyond diplomatic measures.

The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, who yesterday signed a deal with Warsaw to install a silo of 10 interceptor missiles on Poland’s Baltic Coast, just over 100 miles from Russian territory, described Russian paranoia as “bizarre”.

The deal, signed at a ceremony in Warsaw with Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski, would allow for a deployment by 2012.

Russia has already promised to target the new installation, warning Poland that agreeing to the deal exposed it “100 per cent” to Russian military strikes, possibly with nuclear missiles.

Last night the Russian foreign ministry said its response to the shield “would go beyond diplomacy” and said the deal was creating a new arms race in the European “continent and beyond its borders.”

After signing the deal however, Miss Rice said such Russian threats “border on the bizarre” and promised that the US would “guarantee” Poland’s territory.

She added that the current diplomatic frostiness between Washington and Moscow did not compare with the decades long ideological standoff of the 20th century.

“I don’t think this is a new Cold War,” she said. “It is a difficult time but I think we shouldn’t overstate the depth of the difficulties.”

Moscow has accused America of using the shield to build a ring of steel around Russia and undermine its strategic nuclear deterrent, but Miss Rice insisted that was not the case.

“This is a system that is defensive and is not aimed at anyone,” she said.

“This is an agreement that will establish a missile defence site that will help us to deal with the new threats of the 21st century of a long-range missile threats from countries like Iran or from North Korea.”

Russian suspicions of a new western-led arms race were exacerbated by the timing of the deal, which was struck last week as Russian forces entered Georgian territory in the Caucasus.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said it was nothing but “fairy tales” to suggest the shield was only directed against “rogue states”.

Mr Sikorski has insisted that the timing of the deal was “pure coincidence” and said Russia would be invited to inspect the base to ensure that Moscow was not its target.

Despite such assurances, however, the war in the Caucasus has had a dramatic effect on public opinion in Poland, previously sceptical about the benefits of hosting the shield.

Latest surveys reveal that a majority of Poles now back the agreement, which is likely to be ratified by a comprehensive majority in the country’s parliament.

Some 58 percent of people are now in favour of the missile shield, almost twice the number who supported the deal six months ago.

Heh. Looks like the Law of Unintended Consequences up and bit somebody on the ass. Thanks, Putie!

That was when negotiations between the US and Poland over the missile silo appeared stalled, following 12 months of discussions.

A new Polish government elected last year appeared determined to strike to toughest deal possible in return for Polish cooperation with Washington.

Above all, new centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk wanted American Patriot missile batteries, capable of destroying incoming short-range warheads, on Polish territory.

Under the terms of the deal signed yesterday, a US patriot battery will be relocated to Poland by 2009.

“The presence of the Patriot battery which will defend our territory and the US installation is a practical dimension of this watershed agreement,” Mr Tusk said.

Heh. And it's all thanks to Putin's paranoia and constant blathering about aiming his nukes at his neighbors.

Via The Telegraph


ебать Путина

EU Constitution, Meet Bus

Czech PM's party may trade Lisbon treaty for U.S. base
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek (Civic Democrats, ODS) said today he cannot imagine ODS lawmakers supporting the Lisbon treaty unless parliament passes the Czech-U.S. treaty on stationing a U.S. radar base on Czech soil.

"It is hypothetical. In view of that the ODS group (of deputies) has 81 members and I think that I know opinions of most of them, it is very difficult for me to imagine that the deputies, or ODS senators, would vote for the Lisbon treaty if the ratification of the treaty with the United States failed," Topolánek said on Radio Cesko.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Czech counterpart, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, signed the main treaty on stationing the radar base on Czech soil in Prague on Tuesday.

Topolánek said "It is not entirely acceptable to connect it like this. But for the deputies who can make a free choice, it can be a certain aspect that will play a role in the decision-making."

To take effect, the treaty must be ratified by Czech parliament and signed by the president.

And President Vaclav Klaus has said that he is ready "without any hesitation" to sign the treaty

Support for it particularly in the lower house is, however, uncertain. It is rejected by the opposition and also by some government Green Party deputies.

Treaty opponents are claiming "that the US anti-missile defence shield in Europe is likely to be abandoned by the next American administration". If Barack [deleted] Obama is elected POTUS, he may very well do just that.

But be very careful of what you wish for. Barry O could also decide that it's time for Europe to take care of Europe and bring all American forces home. But what about NATO you whine? Surrender Monkey Logic says that the need for NATO ended when the Berlin Wall came down. After all the NATO treaty is . . . just words . . . .

The Lisbon treaty, which Topolánek signed for the Czech Republic, is opposed by some deputies from his party, the ODS. It was on their initiative that the Senate sent the treaty to the Constitutional Court to check whether it is in harmony with the Czech Constitution.

Via ČeskéNoviny

Journalist Begins Hunger Strike -- To Support America

Jiří X. Doležal ate his last meal before the hunger strike Friday

Journalist goes on hunger strike to support US base
Czech journalist Jiří X. Doležal Friday went on hunger strike in support of the stationing of the U.S. radar base on Czech soil, in reaction to a recent hunger strike by two opponents of the base, Doležal told journalists.

Doležal said he will be on hunger strike until the Czech-U.S. treaty on the base is signed, he said in a Prague cafe while eating his last meal.

The two treaties are to be signed in June or July.

"I am afraid of a missile attack from the south and southeast. I thus prefer the Czech Republic being hidden under a missile defence umbrella," Doležal said.

Doležal is known for controversial actions. As a pro-marijuana activist, he sent a cannabis bouquet to then first lady Dagmar Havlova in 1999 along with a letter calling for the lifting of the Czech ban on growing cannabis.

Friday, Doležal started sipping his coffee while a pro-radar song, sang by Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) played.

Media ridiculed Parkanova for the song celebrating the radar base that she recorded with a folk musician last year.

Activists Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar temporarily ended a hunger strike against the U.S. base's construction after more than two weeks though their demands were not met by the government.

They said their strike was successful as it focused public attention on the issue both home and abroad.

Heh. Some success. The intent to sign and ratify the treaty remains; the government dismissed your stunt and demands out-of-hand. But, at least some moonbats expressed their solidarity, albeit, all the while enjoying smažený řízek and pivo.

The United States wants to build the radar base in the Brdy military area, 90km southwest of Prague, and a base for ten interceptor missiles in Poland within its missile shield.

The Central European elements are to protect the United States and a large part of the European continent against missiles that states like Iran might launch.

The left opposition as well as a majority of Czechs oppose the project.

As does the Left's great friend and true blue democrat, Vladimir Paranoid


Via The Prague Monitor

Friday Night Summary

Review of the NATO Summit

DISCLAIMER: Viewing by moonbats may will cause severe episodes of America Derangement Syndrome™

NATO's Aboard

Bush wins NATO nod on missile defense
President Bush won NATO's endorsement Thursday for his plan to build a missile defense system in Europe over Russian objections. The proposal also advanced with Czech officials announcing an agreement to install a missile tracking site for the system in their country.

Despite a setback in his drive to see NATO expanded further eastward to include Ukraine and Georgia, Bush vowed not to drop the issue.

"NATO's door must remain open to other nations in Europe that share our love for liberty and demonstrate a commitment to reform and seek to strengthen their ties with the trans-Atlantic community," Bush said in brief remarks at an alliance meeting. "We must give other nations seeking membership a full and fair hearing."

Fellow NATO leaders, fearing a clash with Moscow, rejected Bush's appeal to allow the former Soviet republics to get on a path toward membership. But Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said the president plans to make a new pitch before he leaves office in January. The United States expects to raise the matter at a meeting of NATO foreign minister in December, Hadley said.

The president expressed regret that NATO also declined to offer full membership at this meeting to Macedonia. The invitation was blocked by Greece, which says the country's name implies a territorial claim to a northern region of Greece, also called Macedonia.

"Macedonia's made difficult reforms at home," Bush said. "It is making major contributions to NATO missions abroad. The name issue needs to be resolved quickly so that Macedonia can be welcomed into NATO as soon as possible."

Albania and Croatia were invited to join the alliance, now currently at 26 members.

Progress on missile defense represented perhaps the biggest boon to Bush from the summit. Russia has strongly opposed the plan.

NATO leaders were adopting a communique stating that "ballistic missile proliferation poses an increasing threat to allied forces, territory and populations." It also will recognize "the substantial contribution to the protection of allies ... to be provided by the U.S.-led system," according to senior American officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the statement's release.

The statement calls on all NATO members to explore ways in which the planned U.S. project, to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic, can be linked with future missile shields elsewhere. It says leaders should come up with recommendations to be considered at their next meeting in 2009, the officials said.

Significantly, the document also calls on Russia to drop its objections to the system and to accept U.S. and NATO offers to cooperate on building it, the officials said.

The plan calls for 10 interceptor missiles based in Poland and a tracking radar site in the Czech Republic.

At a news conference in Bucharest on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwartzenberg announced that negotiations with the Americans have been successfully completed and that a deal would be signed in early May. No U.S. official was in attendance, but the Czechs distributed a joint U.S.-Czech statement that said, "This agreement is an important step in our efforts to protect our nations and our NATO allies from the growing threat posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction."

The Poles have yet to agree to the plan. But in Warsaw on Thursday, talks picked up between Polish and U.S. officials about Bush's plan to put 10 interceptor missiles in Poland. As part of any deal, Poland wants aid from the United States in modernizing the Polish military.

The backing from NATO and the announcement with the Czechs provides Bush with a powerful leg up in his negotiations with Moscow over the issue.

Russia charges the intent of the system would be to weaken its nuclear deterrent capabilities and upset the balance of power in Europe. Bush has repeatedly denied that, saying the facilities are designed to protect Europe against a potential missile attack — or even just nuclear blackmail — by Iran. The dispute has become heated at times, with confrontational, Cold War-style rhetoric from Moscow.

Bush is seeing Russian President Vladimir Putin twice this week — during the NATO summit and in one-on-one meetings planned for this weekend in Sochi, Russia. White House officials have talked optimistically in recent days that the weekend meeting could break the missile defense logjam.

Bush has essentially rejected Russia's suggestion that the U.S. substitute an early warning radar in Azerbaijan for the Europe-based system. But U.S. officials have been working to come up with a list of concessions and assurances that could resolve Moscow's fears, such as offering to let Russia share in the information the system collects and promising not to activate it without a verifiable threat.

[....]

EU appeasement monkeys are seething.


Read it all at The AP/Yahoo!

Previously: Talking Down The NATO summit

About Lame Duck Presidencies

Interesting developments while Dubya's in Romania.

Putin, Bush may sign missile shield document
A joint document to be signed by the Russian and U.S. presidents on April 6 will include issues related to missile defense, a Kremlin source said on Tuesday.

George W. Bush will meet with Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia's resort city on the Black Sea, for more discussions on NATO's expansion and U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

"Experts are working hard on a document within the strategic framework of Russian-U.S. cooperation," the source said.

"[The presidents'] joint statement will include provisions on missile defense," he added.

He also said the upcoming meeting would provide "a road map" for future presidents in both countries.

While some of Old Europe's heavy hitters grasp their oui-ouis and tremble in abject fear, ol' Dubya and New Europe again challenge Vladimir Paranoid to join the 21st century.

So-o-o-o-o, what's happened to bring Putie aboard the Good Ship Real World?

Heh. Maybe this.

Bush said earlier on Tuesday that there would be no deal with Moscow on withdrawing American support for NATO bids by the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine in exchange for Russia's acceptance of a U.S. missile shield in Europe.

Speaking at a news conference in Kiev after talks with President Viktor Yushchenko, Bush signaled his support for the two ex-Soviet states' requests to enter the Membership Action Plan (MAP), a precursor for membership in the Western military alliance.

Asked by a reporter about rumors that Washington could strike a bargain with Moscow, he said: "That is a misperception - I strongly believe that Ukraine and Georgia should be given MAP, and there's no tradeoff, period."

The U.S. intends to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic, which it says will provide defense against 'rogue states' such as Iran. Moscow views the plans as a direct threat to its own security.

Moscow also vehemently opposes NATO's further expansion around its borders. The Kremlin threatened in February to target missiles at Ukraine if Kiev joins NATO and allows Western military facilities on its territory.

Bush's visit to Kiev is a stop-over before a trip to Romania for the April 2-4 NATO summit. Putin has also been invited to the summit.

Koslings v. PuffHo: Who will be first to spin this into proof of the Bushchimphitler-Pajamashadeen-Jooooish Conspiracy?

And what about eeeevil Halliburton?!?

Via RIA Novosti, Russian News & Information Agency

See also: U.S.-Czech treaty on radar base may be announced at NATO summit


Also at A Tangled Web

UPDATE: Dr. Rusty links. Thanks!

Sovereignty Reigns

Poland against permanent Russian presence at U.S. missile base
Poland will not agree to the permanent presence of Russian military observers at a proposed U.S. missile base on its territory, the foreign minister said on Wednesday.

The idea of allowing Russians to monitor proposed U.S. missile defense bases in Central Europe was one of the proposals put forward by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates during their talks in Moscow on March 18 with Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"We will not allow the permanent presence of Russian military officers at a U.S. missile base [in Poland], but they will be able to conduct temporary inspections and monitoring," Radoslaw Sikorski said in an interview with the Polish Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.

The minister reiterated that Poland has not yet decided whether to allow the placement of a U.S. missile interceptor base on its territory, despite rumors circulated in Polish media.

"We are ready to expedite this process, but only after reaching a consensus [with the U.S.] on some conditions that I am not going to divulge," he said.

The George W. Bush administration earlier said it backed Warsaw's request for aid in modernizing its missile defenses.

The U.S. plans to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic citing a threat from Iran and other "rogue states," while Russia views these plans as a destabilizing factor for Europe and a threat to its national security.

Poland's new government led by Donald Tusk, which came to power in November last year, has taken a more cautious approach to the U.S. proposal than former Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski's cabinet, which fully supported the plan.

Sikorski said Poland will not share the cost of the construction of a missile base with the U.S.

In his 2009 budget proposal, President Bush requested $96 million for the development of missile shield elements, $382.6 million for the actual deployment of the complexes in Poland and the Czech Republic, and $241.2 million for construction works.

However, U.S. Congress said it would not allow the Bush administration to spend the allocated budget for the construction of the missile defense infrastructure in Poland and the Czech Republic in 2008, unless Washington signed bilateral agreements with these countries.

The neocoMs are seething.

Via RIA Novosti, Russian News & Information Agency

See also: U.S.-Czech treaty on radar base may be announced at NATO summit

Czechs Thumb Their Noses At Putie -- Again

Talks on U.S. radar completed
Czech and U.S. representatives have completed the talks on the planned U.S. radar base on Czech soil that were launched a year ago, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek (Civic Democrats, ODS) said in an interview for today's issue of the daily Hospodarske noviny (HN).

Topolánek said only the venue where the treaty would be signed must yet be agreed on.

"I have information that the major problems might have been solved in the main treaty. Nothing prevents us from potentially declaring at the NATO summit in Bucharest the possibility to sign it," Topolánek told HN.

He added that the last "three words" that were not clear during his February visit to Washington have already been agreed on.

The U.S. radar base is to be located at the Brdy military district, some 90 km southwest of Prague. The radar and a planned base for ten interceptor missiles in Poland are to be elements of the U.S. missile defence shield that is to protect the United States and a large part of Europe against missiles that states like Iran might launch.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg (for Greens) told public Czech Television (CT) on Sunday that agreement has not yet been reached on one article concerning the environment in the treaty.

The Czech and U.S. delegations should go to the April NATO summit in Bucharest with agreed conditions on the radar base re-location to the Czech Republic to be able to negotiate NATO's support for the missile defence shield, HN writes.

It says such support is primarily significant for the Czech government to persuade the radar opponents in the country where the left-wing opposition as well as some 70 percent of the public are against the project.

The junior ruling Greens condition their nodding to the radar exactly by NATO's support .

Topolánek said he is sure that NATO would support the project in the summit's final resolutions.

"The discussion is only about the verb - we expect, welcome. Everything else is concealed in the NATO analyses. No one doubts that this system is necessary," Topolanek told HN.

Schwarzenberg said on Sunday the bilateral treaties on the stationing of a U.S. missile defence base in the Czech Republic might be signed in early May.

Topolánek stressed in HN that the second bilateral treaty to create a legal framework for the stay of U.S. soldiers in the Czech Republic must yet be tuned up.

Heh. The diplomacy of Vladimir Paranoid appears to be failing.

Saying No To Pacifism

Radar is first chance for Czechs to accommodate USA - Havel

Prague- The planned U.S. radar base on Czech soil is the first chance for the Czech Republic to accommodate its ally - the United States, former Czech President Václav Havel said in the Questions of Václav Moravec programme on public Czech Television (CT) today.

He added that without the U.S. aid the independent Czechoslovakia would not be established in 1918 and the Iron Curtain would never fall.

"The Americans want something from us for the first time. Previously we always wanted something from them. They want such a little thing. And we have started shilly-shallying," Havel said.

The United States plans to build the radar base at the Brdy military district, some 90km southwest of Prague, along with a base with ten defence missiles in Poland, as elements of the missile defence shield that is to protect a big part of Europe and the United States against missiles that "rogue" countries like Iran might launch.

Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev told CT that the whole U.S. missile defence system was aimed against Russia and China and would make the Czech Republic a target of the Russian military plans.

"The U.S. radar is a serious matter and the Czech government is going to accept it without the citizens' mandate. Do you think the whole is being prepared against Iran? This is complete nonsense. Iran poses no threat. It is possible to deal with it by other means if necessary at all," Gorbachev added.

Sounds like Gorby's drinking out of the same bottle as Vladimir Paranoid.

"He [Gorbachev] has been all the time using the word 'aimed' as if it were an offensive weapon. Those are defence systems," Havel said in reaction to Gorbachev's words.

Havel also expressed disappointment that not a single voice was raised against the presence of the Soviet troops in the former Czechoslovakia in the past.

Havel said it makes him a bit angry that hundreds of thousands of people kept silent for dozens of years about thousands of Soviet tanks and soldiers on Czechoslovak territory.

"At the moment when we have got freedom, among others thanks to the Americans, and we are allowed to speak freely without risking punishment, we are hesitating all of a sudden. And we thereby demonstrate our alleged sovereignty," Havel told CT.

He added he considers it dubious, and he thinks that the radar opponents are doing something as dangerous as the pacifistic approach before the Munich Agreement in 1938, signed by Germany, Britain, France and Italy, that permitted the German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.

Pacifism in the end leads to a higher number of victims than a firm stance, Havel concluded.

The sound you hear is moonbat heads exploding.

More than two thirds of Czechs are opposed to the planned U.S. radar base on Czech soil, according to polls.

The Czech government has negotiated with the United States since early last year on the project, and the talks are to be closed soon.

It will be interesting to see if the Left declares Havel a heretic.

And if Putie understands that Havel has told him, "Nasrat!"

Via ČeskéNoviny.cz