April 3, 2008
THANKS, GIPPER:
US strikes missile deal with Czechs (Julian Borger, 4/03/08, guardian.co.uk)
The US and Czech Republic have announced an agreement to establish an element of a controversial missile defence system on Czech soil.The agreement was declared at the Nato summit underway in Bucharest and will sharpen tensions between the US and Russia, which is fiercely opposed to the stationing of the system so close to its borders.
NATO to Endorse U.S. Missile Shield (Reuters, 4/03/08)
NATO leaders meeting in Bucharest were set to endorse a planned U.S. missile shield for Europe on Thursday, a senior U.S. official told reporters.The final summit statement would "recognize the substantive contribution to the protection of the allies" from the missile defense system to be deployed in the Czech Republic and Poland, the official told reporters.
Sit back and enjoy. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 3, 2008 7:18 AM
Figures that the headline on the story in my local fishwrap is about Bush being rebuffed on expanding NATO, without a mention of this agreeement.
Posted by: Chris B at April 3, 2008 8:06 AMMy brother-in-law (a farily high up VW exec.) likes to tell the story of when he was in the Russian "control room" where they can just turn off Western Europe's energy supply (gas and oil) by flicking a few switches.
Russia has flicked those switches once or twice if memory serves.
NATO must be worried about something if they would agree to this.
Posted by: Bruno at April 3, 2008 9:06 AM