Below are some photos from the happening that took place on the 20th January in front of the US Embassy in Prague. The Initiative activists and sympathisers came to say good-bye to the US Ambassador Richard Graber on leaving his post. While in his function, Graber was a vehement proponent of the planned radar base in the Brdy region.

We celebrated Graber's departure as a symbol of a definite end of the discredited Bush administration, of which the Ambassador was an extended arm.

Now, in contrast, we welcome the new president Obama, who has inspired great expectations world-wide. We, too, would like to hope that he will bring true changes, indeed that he might reverse the direction of the American politicies so far. Therefore we value his intention of reassessing the planned placement of the radar and anti-missile bases in central Europe. We hope that the powers in Washington will themselves say 'no' to this unnecessary, dangerous and counter-productive armament system, when the servile Czech government has not been capable of doing so.

As expected, the action was attended by special guests - Condoleezza Rice, Vlasta Parkanová (Czech Minister of Defence) and Alexander Vondra (the Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs) (photo 2) - so there was food and champagne, and dancing to music (photo 4), as well as a contact with an Embassy official to whom we returned with thanks both the treaty documents (photo 6), in a red folder.