Final Word from Monday, April 23, 2007
Although the tide is starting to turn somewhat, an overwhelming majority of Czechs remain against putting a missile-defense radar station in the CR. The same can probably be said of most foreign businesspeople active here. If there's any one factor that explains this unusual convergence of opinion more than any other, it's a lack of trust in the Bush administration. As Donald Trump put it on CNN, "Everything in Washington has been a lie. Weapons of mass destruction were a lie. It's all a big lie." The U.S. might very well win approval from Czech politicians for the radar by bringing Nato on board (which has already happened) and by allowing the Russians to inspect the facility, but the public's doubts about the U.S.'s true intentions will remain. The CR was led into Iraq under false pretences, and the building of a radar base against an unproven Iranian threat feels a bit like déj? vu.[Czech Republic North Atlantic Treaty Organizaiton United States of America deja vu George W. Bush]