Final Word from Thursday, September 11, 2003
Today's the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, but more Czechs will be talking at work or school about last night's fabulous football victory over the Netherlands. ("That final goal by Milan Baroš was some amazing footwork.") Unlike in soccer, where the Czechs ruled the field, in foreign policy they engage in "constructive ambiguity," according to the Financial Times. This means taking a self-interested approach to issues and telling their allies what they want to hear. They pay lip service to the war on terrorism, but to them it remains a foreign concept that merely causes traffic jams around Radio Free Europe. HN argued today that the CR is too small and unimportant to be the target of a terrorist attack. The Czechs are sympathetic to the events of Sept. 11, but two years later, they are frankly more interested in soccer.