Husák had a serious word with himself, confiscated his own driver's license for three months and contributed to charity, thinking that should be punishment enough. Journalists from daily Mladá fronta Dnes took pictures of Husák speeding to work at 190 kilometers per hour (instead of the permitted 130 kilometers per hour). The police president violated the rules so many times that it was more than enough to rid him of his driver's license. Not long ago, Husák told reporters that Czech drivers have absolutely no respect for the law. Little did we know at the time that he was talking about himself.

Husák is a senior police officer who should set good examples for others. It's unlikely Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek's Social Democratic Cabinet would sack Husák for what he did. Let's hope the next government will do so, Němeček writes.

A U.S. expert team came to the Czech Republic to examine possibilities for setting up a third U.S. anti-missile base, which would at the same time offer protection to countries that take part in the project, Jiří Šedivý writes in Mladá fronta Dnes July 20.

The defense system would protect the United States and its allies against the threat of missiles carrying warheads — a realistic threat as confirmed by NATO summits in Prague and Istanbul. Those against the idea say such bases are bound to attract terrorist attacks. However, anti-missile bases are all about defense; they don't endanger anybody, not even terrorists abroad.

If anything's bound to attract terrorist attention, it's likely to be Radio Free Europe broadcasting from Prague and influencing people in countries where terrorists are very much at home. There's no need to scare people, but, from the point of vulnerability, RFE remains a target. Terrorism follows its own logic. Take France, which was against operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and still wound up on the target list.

There is no need to overdo it when speaking of the base's contribution to the national economy. Any prediction of thousands of new jobs is likely out of place. The positive part of the story is somewhere else: With an anti-missile base, the Czech Republic would be seen as part of a secure, stable area — good news for all the investors. A secure place contributes to increasing investor interest in the Czech Republic.

I'm strongly against comparing the idea of a U.S. base with the stay of Soviet armies in Czechoslovakia. Back then we had to be allies; today we can be allies if we please. It's entirely up to us. In 1968, the Soviet Union broke in without asking — and stayed for two decades. Today the United States asks the Czech Republic for permission to set up a base with a few hundred soldiers under conditions formulated by the Czech side. And if we say no, the base will be somewhere else.

In the future all strong states and alliances will be protected by anti-missile defense systems. We'll never be rich enough to provide such defense from our own sources. I'm convinced the U.S. anti-missile system will be accepted by all NATO member states, Šedivý writes.