Final Word from Thursday, February 8, 2007
In a country where nothing is older than yesterday's news, the debate over a U.S. radar station is having amazing longevity. It's still on the front page of Czech newspapers nearly every day. In Russia, too, the story continues to get airtime almost every evening. Izvestia even quoted an analyst as saying that Russia's defense doctrine reserves the right to use tactical nuclear weapons against sites that present a threat to Russia. This tidbit hasn't reached the Czech mass media yet, but all the other publicity about the radar station is having a negative impact on public opinion. Polls show that Czechs are increasingly against the U.S. facility. The best hope for the Yes camp is that the issue will die down for a few months and then be revived later, in a better atmosphere. Much will depend, though, on how the world at the time sees the U.S.'s handling of Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.[Czech Republic missile-defense]