Reports of the terrorist attack on the American embassy in Nairobi last Friday were horrible to read. Over 200 people were killed in the explosion, more than 5,000 injured, mainly by flying glass. The bombings in Kenya and Tanzania were cowardly acts, intended to intimidate small nations who allow American interests to operate from their territories. But those bombings also could have been a signal to the politicians in Prague following the announcement that the United States is establishing a Radio Free Europe center here to broadcast to the people of Iran and Iraq.
Many eyes are on Prague today.
Many countries do not want to see NATO expanded. Many do not want to see a Trojan Horse for the Americans in eastern Europe. What it all boils down to is former friendships and spheres of influence. They have not fallen as easily as the wall in Berlin. During the cold war era, many Iranian and Iraqi officers were educated at the Czechoslovakian military academy in Brno.