To understand just how divisive is the proposed American missile-defense radar installation here, talk to Josef Rihak. Better still, talk to both of them.

The elder of the father-son pair is a member of the lower house of the Czech Parliament who in 2003 voted to send his country's troops to Iraq. He is now also mayor of Pribram and, since its founding last month, coordinator of the League of Mayors Against the Radar, a group of 35 local leaders opposed to the proposed American installation.

"I have not experienced a topic that would divide the Czech population as much as this radar," Rihak said. He need look no further than his dinner table at home for evidence. "I think my son is the biggest ally of the radar in the entire Czech Republic," he said, with a knowing smile.

The younger Josef Rihak, 18, looks both in clothes and musculature like he just stepped out of the Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue. He plays American football for local club teams and the junior national team and would welcome U.S. troops - especially if they were willing to teach him the finer points of playing defensive end. "I want American people in our country," Rihak said.

Father and son represent two prominent strains of thought in the Czech Republic today, the historic unabashed support for America itself and a more recent skepticism about its defense policies. In the radar debate, the latter is winning out among the public, the question is whether the government can still deliver for its largest and most important ally.

The United States says the missile defense system is needed to protect Europe and North America against an eventual intercontinental ballistic missile threat from rogue states like Iran, a threat that U.S. officials say will be in full force by 2015. Many Czechs say that far from protecting them, the radar would make the country a target, and this time they do not want to keep quiet and do America's bidding.

"I've never been a coward, but that feeling when the Russians tell you they'll be aiming their missiles at you, of course we are afraid of that," said Rihak, the mayor. 

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Source: Kulish, Nicholas. Czech doubts on radar plan highlight skepticism about U.S. policies abroad. International Herald Tribune, 28.09.2007