US hurries to build military base in Central Europe before '08

EUROPE: U.S. Base Nears Moment of Truth
By Zoltán Dujisin


PRAGUE, Jan 21 (IPS) - U.S. diplomatic and business representatives have stepped up their lobbying activities to secure a deal for the construction of a military base in Central-Eastern Europe ahead of the U.S. presidential vote.

The U.S. administration is hurrying to secure an agreement with Czechs and Poles to enlarge its missile defence system to Central-Eastern Europe by building a radar in the Czech Republic and a missile base in Poland.

A two-day seminar held Jan. 16-17 in Prague brought together representatives of 40 Czech businesses and 10 U.S. arms producers, among them giants such as Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, to discuss the construction of the missile defence system.

The meeting was attended by Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg and Missile Defence Agency (MDA) director Henry Obering, who also visited Prague to promote the radar's construction.

Czech businessmen exchanged business cards and gave 20-minute presentations on how they could be useful to the U.S. companies.

Following the seminar, Schwarzenberg declared that an exclusive treaty between U.S. and Czech firms and scientists could be signed by June, and that it would "minimise legal, commercial and political obstacles and create favourable conditions for new contacts between Czech and U.S. businesspeople and researchers."

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Added: Just because they cut a deal now doesn't always lock it up. They thought they had a deal in with Berlusconi (sp?) for land for the base in N. Italy, but the locals are working hard to turn it back. Would make it harder to pull back from such a deal, but not impossible by any means.