Final Word from Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Czech politicians both past and present had to listen to some tough words of reproach yesterday from Army Chief of Staff Karel Řehka. He told top army command at a televised gathering in the morning that the threat posed by Russia was evident from at least 2014 but that it wasn't taken seriously. "We hoped that everything would calm down," he said, "but hope isn't a strategy." The biggest rearmament of the country in history is no longer a wish but rather a necessity, he said. He told Czech TV last night that when we start investing into defense today, we're preparing for the next crisis in 15 years or so. We should have started investing into preparations for the current crisis much sooner, he said. All in all, Řehka's comments were a good sales pitch for hastily buying expensive military equipment, but the general didn't do much to outline the expected risks 15 years down the line or to explain whether the "advanced adversary" we might be preparing to fight in the next crisis is China. [ Czech Republic Crimea weaponry ]