Final Word from Thursday, May 30, 2024
Czech, French, German and other Nato foreign ministers will make big proclamations in Prague today about the need to let Ukraine use Western weapons to strike military targets in Russia. However, the Financial Times threw a wet blanket over their party by reporting that Nato has only 5% of the air defense needed to protect its eastern flank against a full-scale Russian attack. One of the eastern-flank countries without much air defense is the CR, but Foreign Min. Jan Lipavský told Czech TV yesterday that he's in favor of letting Ukraine strike Russia. After Jens Stoltenberg got the ball rolling about changing the policy, Vladimir Putin warned small European countries to be fully aware of what is at stake, because "theirs are small and densely populated countries." France can afford to be bold in its proclamations, because it has nuclear deterrence. What does the CR have, other than a few F-35s on order? It has big-mouth deterrence, aimed perversely at its own population, not at the adversary. [ Czech Republic big-mouthed Television Pirates fighters Nato secretary general escalation ]
Glossary of difficult words
deterrence - the action of discouraging an action or event through instilling doubt or fear of the consequences;
wet blanket - something that makes an event or situation less successful or enjoyable than it would otherwise be;
flank - the extreme right or left side of an army or fleet, or a subdivision of an army or fleet;
to get the ball rolling - to set an activity in motion;
perversely - in a manner contrary to what is expected or accepted.