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PRO Initiative favors U.S. radar defense base
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June 20th, 2007 issue

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By Dan Macek
Opinion polls persistently show a clear majority of the public opposes the idea of building a U.S. radar base on Czech territory. The prevailing impression in both domestic and foreign media has been that there is no democratic constituency actually backing the government’s policy of partaking in U.S. missile-defense plans.
To counter this one-sided view, a group of us got together earlier this year to launch the PRO Initiative. The aim of this nonpartisan civic platform is to clearly voice the opinion of those members of the public who are in favor of the project.
Now that we belong to the free world, we want the Czech Republic to bear its share of responsibility not only for its own security, but also for the security and defense of the entire Euro-Atlantic civilization. We are convinced of the need for timely, first-rate defense that could help avoid unnecessary casualties in the future.
By entering NATO eight years ago, our country gained the right to turn to its allies for assistance in case of threat or attack. This right is derived from the principal of solidarity, “one for all, all for one.” Of course, this right also entails the obligation to provide our allies with assistance if they are threatened.
At a time when avowed enemies of the West continue to amass long-range offensive arsenals, we consider the stationing of a U.S. defensive radar base on Czech soil to be a natural continuation of the chosen direction of our country’s foreign policy. This especially applies in the case of a defensive structure that would undoubtedly complement any missile-defense shield that NATO may choose to assemble in the future.
Certain NATO countries, as well as domestic opponents of the project, object to the fact that this is at present only a bilateral endeavor. However, as citizens of Central Europe who suffered decades of both Nazi and communist tyranny in the past century, we are acutely aware that it was the United States, in particular, who played a decisive role in defeating both of these totalitarian regimes that sought to enslave the entire world. Moreover, one bitter historical lesson that we learned when our country was sold down the river at Munich in 1938 is not to have excessive confidence in allies who are loath to face down challenges posed by common enemies.
Various opponents of stationing part of the U.S. missile-defense shield in Central Europe are also overtly eager not to irritate the wounded pride of a resurgent Russia that is worryingly nostalgic for the perverse glory of the Soviet Union. Although it would be technically impossible for the modest Central European extension of the U.S. missile-defense shield to threaten Russia’s vast nuclear arsenal, certain European Union governments prefer to pander to an increasingly authoritarian Kremlin that boasts of its readiness to overreact by targeting Europe’s capitals with nuclear warheads. Indeed, certain EU governments even devise bilateral pipeline schemes with Moscow that shamelessly circumvent Central Europe and thus expose it to Russian energy blackmail, lately a well-honed Russian skill. Under such circumstances, any opportunity to strengthen transatlantic security ties is truly a godsend.
Unlike in the past, when offensive nuclear missiles of the Warsaw Pact were deployed on our territory arbitrarily, our country now has the inalienable right to freely decide its defense arrangements. Recognizing the urgency of the current state of international security, we call upon our responsible political representatives to act accordingly and to press ahead with the establishment of the proposed U.S. military installations on Czech territory.
— The author works for the PRO Initiative. PRO, which means “in favor of” in Czech, is also the acronym of anti-missile defense (proti-raketová obrana). The initiative was launched in early March by a dozen people, mostly in their 20s and 30s. The strictly nonpartisan group does not share a common position regarding any other aspect of the current U.S. administration’s foreign policy except for its support of expanding the U.S. missile-defense shield into Central Europe. For more information (mostly in Czech) see
www.radaryrakety.cz.


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