Message to Russia
Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz told Bloomberg that he expects the final cost to the U.S. of the war in Iraq to reach perhaps $5 trillion. It's the first war, he added, that has been totally financed by borrowing. The U.S.'s missile-defense plans in Central Europe are considered a vital tool in the related war on terror, and if the radar is built, it too will essentially be paid for with borrowed money. The question arises: Why should the CR contribute to U.S. financial profligacy by approving the radar, when - as Petr Uhl of Právo argued - the Czechs who support the radar are only interested in showing Russia who the boss is now. Czechs don't need the radar for this. A cheaper way is to scrap the radar and to ask the U.S. to enter talks on building a conventional military base in the CR. This would send the same message to Russia but would undoubtedly be met with fierce opposition from the radar lobby, which likes the idea of throwing good money after bad.
Glossary of difficult words
vital tool - the words of George W. Bush;profligacy - being recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources;
Petr Uhl - see Právo, Sat., March 8, page 6;
who the boss is - in the sense that the Czechs now have the power to make such decisions themselves, without concern for what Moscow wants;
to scrap - to discard, abolish, cancel;
to throw good money after bad - to spend more and more money on something that will never be successful.