You may recall my blog/this picture last year on 08 July 08 on this subject. At the time, and currently as well, more than 65% of the Czech people were against having a radar base south of Prague in Brdy, on Czech soil.
It was reported today that President Obama has cancelled the missile defense initiative that was signed last year between the US and the Czech Republic.
At first glance it seems like the Czech People won on this issue; except it was not their opinion that swayed Obama’s decision, it was Russia. He was afraid of pissing them off.
It would have been wonderful if he had done it based on Czech opinion, or any majority opinion, but that was not the case. And in the final analysis, it was not the Czech People that won, it may have been Iran. Here are excerpts from todays news report:
PRAGUE – 17 Sept 09 - President Barack Obama has decided to scrap plans for a U.S. missile defense shield (radar) in the Czech Republic and Poland (actual missiles) that had deeply angered Russia, the Czech prime minister confirmed Thursday. Premier Jan Fischer told reporters that Obama phoned him overnight to say that "his government is pulling out of plans to build a missile defense radar on Czech territory."
NATO's new chief hailed the move as "a positive step" and a Russian analyst said Obama's decision will increase the chances that Russia will cooperate more closely with the United States in the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.
The decision to scrap the plan will have future consequences for U.S. relations with eastern Europe. "If the administration approaches us in the future with any request, I would be strongly against it," said Jan Vidim, a lawmaker with Czech Republic's conservative Civic Democratic Party, which supported the missile defense plan.
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