Valiance rises up again...

Bravery and stoicism are not dead. In the Russians crude quest to halt the missile defense operation, the Czechs have proved to be quite the obstacle. Read below:

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said threats by Russian officials over the plans, which would involve placing a radar system on Czech land and a missile battery in Poland, would only make Czechs more determined to defend themselves.

"The Czechs will now think the shield is even more necessary," Schwarzenberg told Reuters on the sidelines of a business conference in Warsaw.

"We have quite an experience with Russians. You have to make clear to them you won't succumb to blackmail. Once you give in to blackmail, there's no going back. We have to be strong."

These are rather strong statements by the Czech official. Clearly, there's no love lost between the two countries. And finally, when hope had been fading in my mind, the Czechs rise up to prove a thorn in the side of the Russians' national ambitions. Men of valor still exist.