Polish President Killed in Plane Crash

Awful news.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and dozens of others in a high-level delegation were killed Saturday when their plane crashed on landing outside the western Russian city of Smolensk, officials said.

Russian state television reported that the Tu-154 jet crashed about a kilometer short of the runway on its fourth attempt to land in heavy fog at the Smolensk-Severnyi military airport, shortly before 11 a.m. Moscow time.

Reports of the number killed in the crash varied. Polish officials put the figure at 88, while Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations said 96 had died and Russia's Investigative Committee said the total was 132.

"We still cannot fully understand the scope of this tragedy and what it means for us in the future," said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Piotr Paszkowski. "Nothing like this has ever happened in Poland."

"We can assume with great certainty that all persons on board have been killed."

Passengers included the president and his wife as well as other top officials. Slawomir Skrzypek, president of the National Bank of Poland, was also on board. Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Piotr Pszkowski said that the army chief of staff and Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer were also on board the plane.

Assorted reaction here.

A nation is in shock.

Lech Walesa:

Former Polish president Lech Walesa, who headed the Solidarity movement, called the crash "inconceivable".

"The Soviets killed Polish elites in Katyn 70 years ago. Today, the Polish elite died there while getting ready to pay homage to the Poles killed there," a shaken Walesa told AFP.

Aviation expert Vladmimir Putin will personally head the investigation. Color me suspicious.

'Abortion is a Crime and Drawing Such a Parallel is Absolutely Justified'

Could you magine the meltdown the pro-abortion forces would have if this billboard popped up somewhere in America?

Polish anti-abortion activists have caused shock with a giant billboard poster depicting aborted fetuses and Adolf Hitler in a campaign timed to remind Poles of Nazi rule during World War Two.

"Abortion was introduced for Polish women by Hitler on March 9, 1943," reads the poster, referring to a law passed by the Nazi regime during its brutal six-year occupation of Poland.

Images of blood-red aborted fetuses are juxtaposed with Hitler's brooding face on the poster.

The anti-abortion group Pro said it was entirely legitimate to make a link between abortion and Nazi crimes.

"It is our duty to fight for the rights of murdered children," Mariusz Dzierzawski, a campaign organizer, told Reuters. "Abortion is a crime and drawing such a parallel is absolutely justified."

Separately, he told the Gazeta Wyborcza daily: "Hitler gave the right of abortion to women, including Poles, who were considered representatives of inferior races."

The poster campaign also coincides with International Women's Day on March 8, when feminists in Poland traditionally stage demonstrations to call for greater equality, including the right to an abortion.

The poster has so far only appeared in Poznan, western Poland, but Dzierzawski said Pro aimed to put it up in at least 30 other towns and cities across the country.

Abortion in staunchly Roman Catholic Poland is illegal except in a few cases. A recent survey showed more than two thirds of Poles are opposed to abortion, up slightly from 1998.

However, initial reaction to the poster was negative.

"Words fail me... Let's leave this topic to parents. They can explain the issue to their children more delicately," said Aneta

Poland: A Country That Gets It

Naturally, the "human rights" buffoons are upset over this. Funny how they don't seem to have any concern over the "rights" of kids molested and raped by these monsters.

Poland on Friday approved a law making chemical castration mandatory for pedophiles in some cases, sparking criticism from human rights groups.

Under the law, sponsored by Poland's center-right government, pedophiles convicted of raping children under the age of 15 years or a close relative would have to undergo chemical therapy on their release from prison.

"The purpose of this action is to improve the mental health of the convict, to lower his libido and thereby to reduce the risk of another crime being committed by the same person," the government said in a statement.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said late last year he wanted obligatory castration for pedophiles, whom he branded 'degenerates'.

Tusk said he did not believe "one can use the term 'human' for such individuals, such creatures."

"Therefore I don't think protection of human rights should refer to these kind of events," Tusk also said.

His remarks drew criticism from human rights groups but he never retracted them.

Good for him. If we had any decency we'd do the same thing here. But nooooo, we coddle them and think they can be rehabilitated. Then they go out and do it again.

Conquering From Within

Shortly before the Czechs announced that Milquetoast Diplomacy had trumped the planned missile defense posts in the Czech Republic and Poland, RIA Novosti (Russian Information Agency) published an editorial by Andrei Fedyashin that was focused primarily on Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and his National Intelligence Strategy. Fedyashin concludes his article with clear insight to, and understanding of, the utterly naive worldview of Barack Obama.

[....]

[....]

Now Blair is ready to give American intelligence agencies broader counterintelligence missions. In the past, counterintelligence was directed primarily at exposing foreign spies. Now it has been elevated to the level of a priority mission for the entire American intelligence community. The NIS states that the targets are now not only foreign governments but also "non-state actors, violent extremist groups, cyber intruders and criminal organizations", which are increasingly undermining U.S. interests in many different ways. It cites attempts to "manipulate U.S. policy and diplomatic efforts, disrupt or mitigate the effectiveness of our military plans and weapons systems, and erode our economic and technological advantage."

The last phrase should be remembered. It is significant in the context of the afore-mentioned nuclear threat coming from Iran and North Korea, and Russia's "global revisionism." After such statements it is difficult to believe that Obama has given up on the deployment of new components of the missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. This prospect seems even less likely in light of the fact that Republicans and neo-Conservatives have launched a fierce campaign against him.

A special conference on missile defense in Europe was recently put on by the influential far-right Heritage Foundation, located in Washington, D.C. Leading right-wing political analysts stated at that conference that Russia's approach to the problem does not reflect the realities of this century, and is based on the failure to comprehend American technological achievements. The message is clear - if Obama rejects the plan drafted under Bush, it will mean that he also fails to comprehend many things in the United States. And that is very bad for America.

No doubt, Putin is laughing his ass off. "Mine! Mine! Europe is all mine!"

Read it all.

Obama Administration Throws Anti-War Crowd A Bone

Of course in appeasing the far left peaceniks and the growing totalitarian regime in Russia he is also throwing the countries of the New Europe under the bus.

President Barack Obama has decided to scrap plans for a U.S. missile defense shield in the Czech Republic and Poland that had deeply angered Russia, the Czech prime minister confirmed Thursday.

I guess this his way of trying to make peace with the far left in his party over kicking the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy down the road. I am trying to figure how you get much further left in foreign policy then you do with this crowd in DC. Their track record so far includes rebuking and imposing sanctions on Honduras for enforcing their constitution, embracing nuclear rogue nations such as North Korea and Iran, applauding Venezuela and Cuba and now conceding to Russia, and managing to piss off Canada and China with their trade policies. Issuing apologies is one thing, disarming what should be our allies is a travesty. Poland has a little bit of experience with not having a strong defense when you border nations bent on domination.

Recently a new slogan has been making the rounds in the former Soviet satellite countries that is basically a twist on the Marine theme of no greater friend, no worse enemy which goes something like being an enemy of the USA may be dangerous, but being their friend is downright deadly.

I would suggest that if Barry O can't find his spine that he go back to being a legal representative for community organizers, since it seems to be the only thing he was good at besides giving good speeches, in which everything said is nothing but words in a teleprompter and the word hypocrisy doesn't exist in his world.

A Shameful Abandonment

Few seemed to notice the other day when we noted Barack Obama was about to sell out Eastern Europe. Well, now it's offical.

This is bad news for all who care about the US commitment to the transatlantic alliance and the defence of Europe as well as the United States. It represents the appalling appeasement of Russian aggression and a willingness to sacrifice American allies on the altar of political expediency. A deal with the Russians to cancel missile defence installations sends a clear message that even Washington can be intimidated by the Russian bear.

What signal does this send to Ukraine, Georgia and a host of other former Soviet satellites who look to America and NATO for protection from their powerful neighbour? The impending cancellation of Third Site is a shameful abandonment of America’s friends in eastern and central Europe, and a slap in the face for those who actually believed a key agreement with Washington was worth the paper it was written on.

When Poland and the Czech Republic are overrun by the Russians, you'll know who to blame. Just sickening.

'They Don't Want Us. They Don't Care About Us'

Nothing like pissing on our friends while busy sucking up to every two bit tryrant and leftist government out there.

Czech and Polish leaders bristle at America's new ambivalence over a Bush administration plan to base a missile defense shield in the two ex-communist countries. The system, which would put 10 interceptor rockets in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic, had been touted as a strategic way to counter a threat from Iran.

But recently, senior U.S. Defense Department officials said they're considering other options. The Czech-Polish plan had infuriated Russia, and the Obama administration has been working to improve relations with the Kremlin.

It gets even more complicated: Although the Czech and Polish governments agreed to host the system, it's been highly unpopular among ordinary citizens, who staged boisterous protests. Now, some leaders fear they may have exposed themselves to needless flak.

"I would consider it a dirty trick if the Czech Republic and Poland would end up unprotected," Alexandr Vondra, a former deputy Czech prime minister and one-time ambassador to the U.S., told The Associated Press.

Vondra was among a group of prominent Eastern European ex-leaders who wrote to Obama in July, saying the region is gripped by anxiety that his overtures to Russia could lead him to ignore them.

"If we don't take care of relations between the U.S. and Central and Eastern Europe, it could lead to a certain worsening of relations in the future," he told the AP.

Poles have other reasons to be rankled at Washington.

On Sept. 1, the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was there for the commemoration. So was French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband. The U.S. sent National Security Adviser James Jones — a move seen as a snub by Poles who expected Vice President Joe Biden or Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"They don't want us. They don't care about us," commentator Lukasz Kwiecien wrote in a scathing editorial for the national daily Dziennik under the headline: "We are paying for our blind love for America."

And there could be consequences, warned Bartosz Weglarczyk, a columnist for the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.

"I have no doubt that under the new administration, Washington has neglected relations with Poland and with Central Europe as a whole. Some say, and I count myself among them, that it is a mistake and that one day Washington may pay dearly for it," he said.

Great Moments in Photoshop History: Microsoft Edition

(NY Post, click to enlarge)

Memo to the geniuses at Microsoft: When you start Photoshopping heads, make sure you check the rest of the body parts.

Apparently, Polish business executives won't buy products if the advertisements feature African-Americans.

That appeared to be the assertion software giant Microsoft put forth when it served up a doctored display ad on the Polish version of the company's Web site.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant was red-faced yesterday after consumers noticed that the company replaced an African-American man featured in the US version of its ad with the head of a white man for the Polish version.

The US ad, meant to showcase Microsoft's business IT software, features a politically correct ethnic mix of a white woman, black man, and Asian man seated around a conference table. In the Polish ad, however, the head of a white man replaces the black man.

Some online commentators suggested that Poland's predominately white population might have been a factor in doctoring the image. Indeed, the largest non-white group in Poland is the Vietnamese, which account for around 3 percent of the country's 38 million citizens.

If the ad's designers were more adept at Photoshop, however, perhaps no one would have noticed. But the software geniuses forgot to swap out the black man's hand, which is clearly visible in the ad resting on the conference table.

Moving to quickly squash the racially charged kerfuffle, Microsoft apologized and said that it was "looking into the details of the situation."

Perhaps Bill Gates will soon be visiting the White House for a beer. Furthermore, how much longer until the race pimps shake Microsoft down?

Daughter of American Citizen To Be Deported

What the hell is wrong with this country? Here we have a case of an 11-year-old girl who has lived in this country since she was two, whose dad is an American citizen and yet INS says she has to go because of a paperwork snafu.

The news came as a shock to Ewelina’s parents. Her mother has a green card and her father is a U.S. citizen. Hubert Bledniak said they just found out their attorney missed a deadline in 2001 that would have allowed Ewelina to apply for her green card while in the United States.

What kind of message is that? Do the right thing and get kicked out, but manage to come across the southern border and speak Spanish and the doors of this country are wide open.

Ewelina Bledniak hasn’t been in Poland since she was 2 years old, but now immigration officers are ordering her to return and wait a year before she can come home.

“I was really sad because I’m going to have to leave so much,” said Ewelina.

The 11-year-old, who goes to school in Forsyth County, is seen as an illegal immigrant by the feds.

“She has to leave (the) country before July 23, if not, she’ll be deported. If she stays here and they deport her, she will not get back here for 10 years,” said Agnes Bledniak, Ewelina’s mother.

Her parents are not here illegally. I wouldn't think she is illegal in any sense of the word since her dad is an American citizen.

Weakling Obama to Eastern Europe: You're On Your Own

Forget protecting and aiding our allies. Obama is ready to throw Poland and the Czech Republic under the bus with the delusional notion Russia will be able to keep Iran from getting nukes, when Russia is the one helping them get there.

Are these people nuts or what?

Note how McClatchy calls weakness and appeasement a softer stance.

The Obama administration has begun to indicate that it's willing to reconsider the Bush administration's push to deploy a ballistic missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland — if Russia helps curb Iran's push to develop nuclear weapons.

Echoing Vice President Joe Biden, who said the new administration wants to push a "reset button" on U.S.- Russia relations, Undersecretary of State William Burns told the Interfax news agency in Moscow last week that, " The United States is quite open to the possibility of new forms of cooperation" with Moscow on missile defense, Iran and "the whole range of security issues with Russia ." His remarks are posted on the Interfax Web site.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to meet her Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in Geneva, Switzerland next month, paving the way for the first meeting between President Obama and Russian Pres. Dmitry Medvedev at the Group of Eight economic summit in London in early April.

The meetings come as concerns continue to mount about Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear enrichment programs, as Israeli hard-liners who consider Iran an existential threat gain ground and as Moscow grows more vocal about what it charges are U.S. encroachments on its spheres of influence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. They also come, however, as falling oil prices and bad investments hammer the once high-flying Russian economy.

Normally, most sane people would call that having leverage. But no, we wouldnt want to embarrass anyone.

For years we've heard the mantra that the world hates us while we were beloved in Eastern Europe. Now indeed that pocket of the world will hate us.

For selling them out to the Communists again.

Russians Kvetch & Bluster

Russia vows missile defence deal response
Russia has accused America of starting a new arms race by locating part of its missile defence shield in Poland and warned that its response would go beyond diplomatic measures.

The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, who yesterday signed a deal with Warsaw to install a silo of 10 interceptor missiles on Poland’s Baltic Coast, just over 100 miles from Russian territory, described Russian paranoia as “bizarre”.

The deal, signed at a ceremony in Warsaw with Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski, would allow for a deployment by 2012.

Russia has already promised to target the new installation, warning Poland that agreeing to the deal exposed it “100 per cent” to Russian military strikes, possibly with nuclear missiles.

Last night the Russian foreign ministry said its response to the shield “would go beyond diplomacy” and said the deal was creating a new arms race in the European “continent and beyond its borders.”

After signing the deal however, Miss Rice said such Russian threats “border on the bizarre” and promised that the US would “guarantee” Poland’s territory.

She added that the current diplomatic frostiness between Washington and Moscow did not compare with the decades long ideological standoff of the 20th century.

“I don’t think this is a new Cold War,” she said. “It is a difficult time but I think we shouldn’t overstate the depth of the difficulties.”

Moscow has accused America of using the shield to build a ring of steel around Russia and undermine its strategic nuclear deterrent, but Miss Rice insisted that was not the case.

“This is a system that is defensive and is not aimed at anyone,” she said.

“This is an agreement that will establish a missile defence site that will help us to deal with the new threats of the 21st century of a long-range missile threats from countries like Iran or from North Korea.”

Russian suspicions of a new western-led arms race were exacerbated by the timing of the deal, which was struck last week as Russian forces entered Georgian territory in the Caucasus.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said it was nothing but “fairy tales” to suggest the shield was only directed against “rogue states”.

Mr Sikorski has insisted that the timing of the deal was “pure coincidence” and said Russia would be invited to inspect the base to ensure that Moscow was not its target.

Despite such assurances, however, the war in the Caucasus has had a dramatic effect on public opinion in Poland, previously sceptical about the benefits of hosting the shield.

Latest surveys reveal that a majority of Poles now back the agreement, which is likely to be ratified by a comprehensive majority in the country’s parliament.

Some 58 percent of people are now in favour of the missile shield, almost twice the number who supported the deal six months ago.

Heh. Looks like the Law of Unintended Consequences up and bit somebody on the ass. Thanks, Putie!

That was when negotiations between the US and Poland over the missile silo appeared stalled, following 12 months of discussions.

A new Polish government elected last year appeared determined to strike to toughest deal possible in return for Polish cooperation with Washington.

Above all, new centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk wanted American Patriot missile batteries, capable of destroying incoming short-range warheads, on Polish territory.

Under the terms of the deal signed yesterday, a US patriot battery will be relocated to Poland by 2009.

“The presence of the Patriot battery which will defend our territory and the US installation is a practical dimension of this watershed agreement,” Mr Tusk said.

Heh. And it's all thanks to Putin's paranoia and constant blathering about aiming his nukes at his neighbors.

Via The Telegraph


ебать Путина

Russia Poses Direct Threat To Czech Republic

Russia poses threat to Czech Republic
The Czech Republic still has reason to be afraid of Russia, former Czech ambassador to Russia Lubos Dobrovsky (in office 1996-2000) says in the daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) Wednesday.

"I am afraid that Russia poses a threat to the world peace. If the democratic world fails to find enough reasons to come to an agreement on its united position towards Russia, Moscow would be more and more often provoking its neighbours trying to deprive them of their independence," Dobrovsky says.

"Russia will again try to restore its political, military and economic influence in the region which it describes as its close neighbourhood," Dobrovsky says.

A former member of the Czechoslovak Charter 77 dissident movement Dobrovsky was Czechoslovak defence minister after the 1989 fall of communism.

Regarding the methods in which the democratic world could show its clearly negative reaction to Russia's foreign policy, Dobrovsky says questioning of Russia as the host of the next winter Olympic games is one of the ways.

"Or through a democratic position that Russia will not be a member of the World Trade Organisation unless it starts behaving in a more civilised manner. Or by denying Russian representatives an invitation to G7 group meetings," Dobrovsky says.

He says Russia certainly poses a direct threat to Czech security.

"Russian high-ranking military representatives have said clearly they would direct their missiles against the Czech Republic if a U.S. radar were stationed on Czech soil. I am not mentioning an economic danger the Czech Republic faces," Dobrovsky says.

As Czech ambassador to Russia, Dobrovsky vehemently advocated the Czech Republic's entry to NATO in the Russian press in 1999.

I'm sure that Vladi Paranoid was pleased to read that. lol

He resigned as Czech ambassador to Moscow under Social Democrat (CSSD) former foreign minister Jan Kavan due to his disputes with the ministry.

According to a public opinion poll published by HN today, 41 percent of Czechs are afraid that the Czech Republic's security could be threatened by Russia.

HN writes that two-thirds of Czechs believe that Russia is not a democratic country, according to the poll conducted by the STEM agency for HN.

Via ČeskéNoviny


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Israelis Taken Hostage in Poland

Thankfully, they're OK now.

The man is identified as Mohammed A.

Gee, I wonder what religious persuasion he is?

Polish police arrested a 23-year-old man identified as Mohammed A. after he took three young Israelis hostage in a hotel in central Warsaw on Monday, the Polish PAP news agency reported.

The man took the three hostages into a hotel room at the Holiday Inn shortly after 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) and threatened to blow up an explosive device before policemen overpowered him, a police spokesman told the PAP agency.

Police evacuated the hotel and searched it but the spokesman said no bomb had been found.

Update: According to the Jerusalem Post, they were not Israelis, rather they were Brazilian Jews.

H/T Carl in Jerusalem.

NATO's Aboard

Bush wins NATO nod on missile defense
President Bush won NATO's endorsement Thursday for his plan to build a missile defense system in Europe over Russian objections. The proposal also advanced with Czech officials announcing an agreement to install a missile tracking site for the system in their country.

Despite a setback in his drive to see NATO expanded further eastward to include Ukraine and Georgia, Bush vowed not to drop the issue.

"NATO's door must remain open to other nations in Europe that share our love for liberty and demonstrate a commitment to reform and seek to strengthen their ties with the trans-Atlantic community," Bush said in brief remarks at an alliance meeting. "We must give other nations seeking membership a full and fair hearing."

Fellow NATO leaders, fearing a clash with Moscow, rejected Bush's appeal to allow the former Soviet republics to get on a path toward membership. But Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said the president plans to make a new pitch before he leaves office in January. The United States expects to raise the matter at a meeting of NATO foreign minister in December, Hadley said.

The president expressed regret that NATO also declined to offer full membership at this meeting to Macedonia. The invitation was blocked by Greece, which says the country's name implies a territorial claim to a northern region of Greece, also called Macedonia.

"Macedonia's made difficult reforms at home," Bush said. "It is making major contributions to NATO missions abroad. The name issue needs to be resolved quickly so that Macedonia can be welcomed into NATO as soon as possible."

Albania and Croatia were invited to join the alliance, now currently at 26 members.

Progress on missile defense represented perhaps the biggest boon to Bush from the summit. Russia has strongly opposed the plan.

NATO leaders were adopting a communique stating that "ballistic missile proliferation poses an increasing threat to allied forces, territory and populations." It also will recognize "the substantial contribution to the protection of allies ... to be provided by the U.S.-led system," according to senior American officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the statement's release.

The statement calls on all NATO members to explore ways in which the planned U.S. project, to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic, can be linked with future missile shields elsewhere. It says leaders should come up with recommendations to be considered at their next meeting in 2009, the officials said.

Significantly, the document also calls on Russia to drop its objections to the system and to accept U.S. and NATO offers to cooperate on building it, the officials said.

The plan calls for 10 interceptor missiles based in Poland and a tracking radar site in the Czech Republic.

At a news conference in Bucharest on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwartzenberg announced that negotiations with the Americans have been successfully completed and that a deal would be signed in early May. No U.S. official was in attendance, but the Czechs distributed a joint U.S.-Czech statement that said, "This agreement is an important step in our efforts to protect our nations and our NATO allies from the growing threat posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction."

The Poles have yet to agree to the plan. But in Warsaw on Thursday, talks picked up between Polish and U.S. officials about Bush's plan to put 10 interceptor missiles in Poland. As part of any deal, Poland wants aid from the United States in modernizing the Polish military.

The backing from NATO and the announcement with the Czechs provides Bush with a powerful leg up in his negotiations with Moscow over the issue.

Russia charges the intent of the system would be to weaken its nuclear deterrent capabilities and upset the balance of power in Europe. Bush has repeatedly denied that, saying the facilities are designed to protect Europe against a potential missile attack — or even just nuclear blackmail — by Iran. The dispute has become heated at times, with confrontational, Cold War-style rhetoric from Moscow.

Bush is seeing Russian President Vladimir Putin twice this week — during the NATO summit and in one-on-one meetings planned for this weekend in Sochi, Russia. White House officials have talked optimistically in recent days that the weekend meeting could break the missile defense logjam.

Bush has essentially rejected Russia's suggestion that the U.S. substitute an early warning radar in Azerbaijan for the Europe-based system. But U.S. officials have been working to come up with a list of concessions and assurances that could resolve Moscow's fears, such as offering to let Russia share in the information the system collects and promising not to activate it without a verifiable threat.

[....]

EU appeasement monkeys are seething.


Read it all at The AP/Yahoo!

Previously: Talking Down The NATO summit

About Lame Duck Presidencies

Interesting developments while Dubya's in Romania.

Putin, Bush may sign missile shield document
A joint document to be signed by the Russian and U.S. presidents on April 6 will include issues related to missile defense, a Kremlin source said on Tuesday.

George W. Bush will meet with Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia's resort city on the Black Sea, for more discussions on NATO's expansion and U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

"Experts are working hard on a document within the strategic framework of Russian-U.S. cooperation," the source said.

"[The presidents'] joint statement will include provisions on missile defense," he added.

He also said the upcoming meeting would provide "a road map" for future presidents in both countries.

While some of Old Europe's heavy hitters grasp their oui-ouis and tremble in abject fear, ol' Dubya and New Europe again challenge Vladimir Paranoid to join the 21st century.

So-o-o-o-o, what's happened to bring Putie aboard the Good Ship Real World?

Heh. Maybe this.

Bush said earlier on Tuesday that there would be no deal with Moscow on withdrawing American support for NATO bids by the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine in exchange for Russia's acceptance of a U.S. missile shield in Europe.

Speaking at a news conference in Kiev after talks with President Viktor Yushchenko, Bush signaled his support for the two ex-Soviet states' requests to enter the Membership Action Plan (MAP), a precursor for membership in the Western military alliance.

Asked by a reporter about rumors that Washington could strike a bargain with Moscow, he said: "That is a misperception - I strongly believe that Ukraine and Georgia should be given MAP, and there's no tradeoff, period."

The U.S. intends to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic, which it says will provide defense against 'rogue states' such as Iran. Moscow views the plans as a direct threat to its own security.

Moscow also vehemently opposes NATO's further expansion around its borders. The Kremlin threatened in February to target missiles at Ukraine if Kiev joins NATO and allows Western military facilities on its territory.

Bush's visit to Kiev is a stop-over before a trip to Romania for the April 2-4 NATO summit. Putin has also been invited to the summit.

Koslings v. PuffHo: Who will be first to spin this into proof of the Bushchimphitler-Pajamashadeen-Jooooish Conspiracy?

And what about eeeevil Halliburton?!?

Via RIA Novosti, Russian News & Information Agency

See also: U.S.-Czech treaty on radar base may be announced at NATO summit


Also at A Tangled Web

UPDATE: Dr. Rusty links. Thanks!

Sovereignty Reigns

Poland against permanent Russian presence at U.S. missile base
Poland will not agree to the permanent presence of Russian military observers at a proposed U.S. missile base on its territory, the foreign minister said on Wednesday.

The idea of allowing Russians to monitor proposed U.S. missile defense bases in Central Europe was one of the proposals put forward by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates during their talks in Moscow on March 18 with Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"We will not allow the permanent presence of Russian military officers at a U.S. missile base [in Poland], but they will be able to conduct temporary inspections and monitoring," Radoslaw Sikorski said in an interview with the Polish Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.

The minister reiterated that Poland has not yet decided whether to allow the placement of a U.S. missile interceptor base on its territory, despite rumors circulated in Polish media.

"We are ready to expedite this process, but only after reaching a consensus [with the U.S.] on some conditions that I am not going to divulge," he said.

The George W. Bush administration earlier said it backed Warsaw's request for aid in modernizing its missile defenses.

The U.S. plans to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic citing a threat from Iran and other "rogue states," while Russia views these plans as a destabilizing factor for Europe and a threat to its national security.

Poland's new government led by Donald Tusk, which came to power in November last year, has taken a more cautious approach to the U.S. proposal than former Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski's cabinet, which fully supported the plan.

Sikorski said Poland will not share the cost of the construction of a missile base with the U.S.

In his 2009 budget proposal, President Bush requested $96 million for the development of missile shield elements, $382.6 million for the actual deployment of the complexes in Poland and the Czech Republic, and $241.2 million for construction works.

However, U.S. Congress said it would not allow the Bush administration to spend the allocated budget for the construction of the missile defense infrastructure in Poland and the Czech Republic in 2008, unless Washington signed bilateral agreements with these countries.

The neocoMs are seething.

Via RIA Novosti, Russian News & Information Agency

See also: U.S.-Czech treaty on radar base may be announced at NATO summit

Czechs Thumb Their Noses At Putie -- Again

Talks on U.S. radar completed
Czech and U.S. representatives have completed the talks on the planned U.S. radar base on Czech soil that were launched a year ago, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek (Civic Democrats, ODS) said in an interview for today's issue of the daily Hospodarske noviny (HN).

Topolánek said only the venue where the treaty would be signed must yet be agreed on.

"I have information that the major problems might have been solved in the main treaty. Nothing prevents us from potentially declaring at the NATO summit in Bucharest the possibility to sign it," Topolánek told HN.

He added that the last "three words" that were not clear during his February visit to Washington have already been agreed on.

The U.S. radar base is to be located at the Brdy military district, some 90 km southwest of Prague. The radar and a planned base for ten interceptor missiles in Poland are to be elements of the U.S. missile defence shield that is to protect the United States and a large part of Europe against missiles that states like Iran might launch.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg (for Greens) told public Czech Television (CT) on Sunday that agreement has not yet been reached on one article concerning the environment in the treaty.

The Czech and U.S. delegations should go to the April NATO summit in Bucharest with agreed conditions on the radar base re-location to the Czech Republic to be able to negotiate NATO's support for the missile defence shield, HN writes.

It says such support is primarily significant for the Czech government to persuade the radar opponents in the country where the left-wing opposition as well as some 70 percent of the public are against the project.

The junior ruling Greens condition their nodding to the radar exactly by NATO's support .

Topolánek said he is sure that NATO would support the project in the summit's final resolutions.

"The discussion is only about the verb - we expect, welcome. Everything else is concealed in the NATO analyses. No one doubts that this system is necessary," Topolanek told HN.

Schwarzenberg said on Sunday the bilateral treaties on the stationing of a U.S. missile defence base in the Czech Republic might be signed in early May.

Topolánek stressed in HN that the second bilateral treaty to create a legal framework for the stay of U.S. soldiers in the Czech Republic must yet be tuned up.

Heh. The diplomacy of Vladimir Paranoid appears to be failing.

Saying No To Pacifism

Radar is first chance for Czechs to accommodate USA - Havel

Prague- The planned U.S. radar base on Czech soil is the first chance for the Czech Republic to accommodate its ally - the United States, former Czech President Václav Havel said in the Questions of Václav Moravec programme on public Czech Television (CT) today.

He added that without the U.S. aid the independent Czechoslovakia would not be established in 1918 and the Iron Curtain would never fall.

"The Americans want something from us for the first time. Previously we always wanted something from them. They want such a little thing. And we have started shilly-shallying," Havel said.

The United States plans to build the radar base at the Brdy military district, some 90km southwest of Prague, along with a base with ten defence missiles in Poland, as elements of the missile defence shield that is to protect a big part of Europe and the United States against missiles that "rogue" countries like Iran might launch.

Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev told CT that the whole U.S. missile defence system was aimed against Russia and China and would make the Czech Republic a target of the Russian military plans.

"The U.S. radar is a serious matter and the Czech government is going to accept it without the citizens' mandate. Do you think the whole is being prepared against Iran? This is complete nonsense. Iran poses no threat. It is possible to deal with it by other means if necessary at all," Gorbachev added.

Sounds like Gorby's drinking out of the same bottle as Vladimir Paranoid.

"He [Gorbachev] has been all the time using the word 'aimed' as if it were an offensive weapon. Those are defence systems," Havel said in reaction to Gorbachev's words.

Havel also expressed disappointment that not a single voice was raised against the presence of the Soviet troops in the former Czechoslovakia in the past.

Havel said it makes him a bit angry that hundreds of thousands of people kept silent for dozens of years about thousands of Soviet tanks and soldiers on Czechoslovak territory.

"At the moment when we have got freedom, among others thanks to the Americans, and we are allowed to speak freely without risking punishment, we are hesitating all of a sudden. And we thereby demonstrate our alleged sovereignty," Havel told CT.

He added he considers it dubious, and he thinks that the radar opponents are doing something as dangerous as the pacifistic approach before the Munich Agreement in 1938, signed by Germany, Britain, France and Italy, that permitted the German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.

Pacifism in the end leads to a higher number of victims than a firm stance, Havel concluded.

The sound you hear is moonbat heads exploding.

More than two thirds of Czechs are opposed to the planned U.S. radar base on Czech soil, according to polls.

The Czech government has negotiated with the United States since early last year on the project, and the talks are to be closed soon.

It will be interesting to see if the Left declares Havel a heretic.

And if Putie understands that Havel has told him, "Nasrat!"

Via ČeskéNoviny.cz

Memo to Putie: Up Yours

New Europe™

Prague doesn't want return to Russian sway
The Czech Republic will not ask Russia for permission to site a U.S. radar station on its soil and rejects returning to Moscow's sphere of influence, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said on Tuesday.

On a visit to Washington to discuss details of a plan to host part of a U.S. anti-missile defense system, Topolanek said the Czech Republic would cooperate with Russia on many issues but would decide its internal affairs alone.

Heh. Undoubtedly the Left will view this man as an eeeevil, mean-spirited right-wing extremist who's trying to start a war. Or something.

The U.S. administration wants to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a global shield against long-range ballistic missiles from "rogue" nations such as Iran or North Korea.

Kremlin officials, saying they believe the shield would be directed against Russia, have threatened to target any parts of the defense system deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Topolanek said Moscow was trying to sow confusion among NATO allies, especially those like the Czech Republic that once were members of the old Moscow-dominated Warsaw Pact and were occupied by Soviet forces during the Cold War.

"We do not want to belong again to the sphere of Russian influence," he said. "We do not want to belong to a group of countries which have to ask Russia for permission if they want to ensure their own defense."

Being part of NATO, which the Czech Republic joined in 1999, allowed Prague to have "at least an equal position with Russia" in such matters, he said.

[...]

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, on a visit to Washington earlier this month, said his country had agreed in principle to host part of the system after getting assurances that Washington would help Poland with other defense needs.

Topolanek, in a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation on Tuesday, said some opposition to the missile defense project had been stirred in Europe by "very skillful propaganda of the Russian federation."

He warned against complacency he said was too common among Europeans who think they will never have to again defend themselves. "Unfortunately I think we are again seeing another ghost in Europe, the ghost of appeasement," he said.

The Nazi Party building at Arcisstrasse 12 (Munich) was built as an office building for Hitler himself, called the Führerbau. In this view, the Führerbau is decorated with French and British flags, for the signing of the Munich Accords in September 1938. (National Archives, RG 242-HB)

Read it all at Reuters

Photo & description courtesy of Geoff Walden's excellent Third Reich in Ruins

Polish Uprising

Someone's going to be unhappy. Very unhappy.

Poland shapes defense accord
'Harmonized agenda' between Poles and Czechs is essential

The diplomatic negotiations around the planned U.S. missile-defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic may have reached a new level, with the United States and Poland coming to an “agreement in principle” on the countries’ missile-defense strategy Feb. 1. The progress was made during a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in Washington, D.C.

Poland agreed to the installation of U.S. missile interceptors on its territory after Washington agreed to bloster the country’s air defenses.

“I think there is a very good case for the proposal that Poland and the United States and, indeed, the Czech Republic, go forward to put together an architecture for missile defenses,” Rice said in a U.S. State Department statement.

While calling the verbal agreement a step forward in the countries’ relations, Sikorski emphasized that the negotiations were still ongoing and that a final decision would only be reached after Polish President Donald Tusk’s planned visit to Washington in March, a time frame in keeping with the Czech government’s plans to reach its own agreement with the United States by early spring.

“It’s important for us to reach an agreement that benefits us as much as possible,” said Czech government radar spokesman Tomáš Klvana.

Although he declined to disclose details of these negotiations or comment on Poland’s diplomatic strategy, Klvana stressed that a harmonized agenda between Poland and the Czech Republic is essential for the missile-defense shield’s successful implementation.

“Of course, the [missile interceptors] in Poland would not work without a radar base[here], so we’re keeping a close watch on the dealings of our friends in Poland, but we cannot comment on their actions,” he said.

The Feb. 1 meeting between Poland and the United States roused an angry response from Russia, which maintains the missile shield is directed against it — a claim repeatedly dismissed by the United States.

Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the international affairs committee of Russia’s lower house, told Reuters Feb. 4. that if Poland and the Czech Republic agree to the United States’ requests, they’ll be at risk, “because the relevant U.S. systems will become a subject of control, and possibly, in the worst case, a target for Russian defense systems.”

Chasing shadows in Kremlin hallways, looking for potential assassins, Vladimir Paranoid was unavaliable for comment.

Via The Prague Post