Final Word from Tuesday, April 16, 2024

PM Petr Fiala told U.S. Pres. Joe Biden in the White House yesterday that he saw Russian tanks in the streets of his town when he was a little boy in 1968 and that he doesn't want to see this again. Biden had said a few minutes earlier that, as the Czech Republic remembers, Russia won't stop in Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin will keep going, putting Europe, the U.S. and the whole world at risk. Fiala told Czech TV later (at 11:28pm) that the only thing that can keep Russian tanks away is our resolve to help Ukraine. We are protected by an enlarged Nato, he said, but if we weren't, Russia would keep expanding. He had met earlier with CIA Dir. William Burns. The CIA and the other U.S. intelligence agencies stated in a recent report that, "Russia almost certainly does not want a direct military conflict with U.S. and Nato forces." However, Biden and Fiala are politicians who know that scare tactics are more effective than professional analysis for extracting money for Ukraine from Congress. [ Czech Republic United States Washington Television Intelligence Community Assessment ]