Taking in the terrorism readiness exercise from the comfortable interior of the Holesovice train station, standing next to the terminal restaurant entrance, the two officials donned a stately demeanor as they observed the Czech Republic's top security forces rolling out their finest gear and specialist units.

Once all the carefully assembled print, radio and television journalists, and Paroubek and Bublan, were told exactly where to assemble for optimal viewing, two shifty-looking bad guys sidled up to the luggage storage lockers and furtively placed a cheap-looking backpack into one.

Perhaps they were furtive because they knew a phalanx of heavily armored, armed-to-the-teeth terrorist police were waiting around the corner to stage a dramatic arrest. Sure enough, no sooner had the evildoers dropped the bag into the locker than the good guys popped out, nabbed the suspects and pinned them to the floor, carbines dramatically held on them as the photographers' flashes popped.

All in all, it was the perfect picture of what a small nation can do to decisively defend itself against

terrorism.

Wherein lies the trouble — it was far too perfect.

Even days before the heavily promoted Fall 2005 Antiterrorist Exercise went off, some of the more thoughtful members of the local media were asking police if this drill — the first of its kind in the Czech Republic — might not be a bit more effective if it were not held in the middle of the night.

Wouldn't real traffic conditions and confused crowds need to be dealt with in any real terrorist attack? Shouldn't those factors be incorporated into such a simulation? No worries, the press were told: We have all those factors accounted for in our calculations.

As Paroubek and Bublan looked on, following the detailed script of precisely what was to happen and when, it all added up to one fine piece of stagecraft — and, let's face it: With the memory of the embarrassment the two suffered after the police beatings at the CzechTek music festival in August still so fresh, a little coverage of the police looking professional surely couldn't hurt,

could it?

Except that terrorists aren't always courteous enough to hand out such scripts. Nor do they always make such easy targets for a quick arrest.

So while Paroubek and Bublan beamed to the press about the police performance, some, like security expert and former BIS secret police member Oldrich Cerny´, were less convinced.

"They made it very easy for themselves," Cerny´ says. "Things would have been vastly different if it had taken place during rush hour. These are the favorite times for terrorists to attack."

In today's dangerous world, the learning curves are steep. While it's fair enough to praise a major effort to try out the troops and gear, let's hope, as Cerny´ does, that there will soon be a more realistic terrorism

exercise.