Message to Russia
2008-03-10
Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz told Bloomberg that he
expects the final cost to the U.S. of the war in Iraq to reach
perhaps $5 trillion. It's the first war, he added, that has been
totally financed by borrowing. The U.S.'s missile-defense plans
in Central Europe are considered a vital tool in the related war
on terror, and if the radar is built, it too will essentially be paid
for with borrowed money. The question arises: Why should the
CR contribute to U.S. financial profligacy by approving the radar,
when - as Petr Uhl of Právo argued - the Czechs who support
the radar are only interested in showing Russia who the boss is
now. Czechs don't need the radar for this. A cheaper way is to
scrap the radar and to ask the U.S. to enter talks on building a
conventional military base in the CR. This would send the same
message to Russia but would undoubtedly be met with fierce
opposition from the radar lobby, which likes the idea of
throwing good money after bad.
[Czech Republic United States of America Raytheon army]
|
