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The conventional wisdom has it that no substantive foreign policy or national security work gets done in Washington during the "silly season," especially not by a lame-duck administration. The Bush White House may be poised to prove the sages wrong, however. The Agence France Presse reports this news from "new Europe," where the Czech Republic is hurrying to finalize its participation in the Administration's planned "third site" for its missile defense system in Europe.

The reasons for the new momentum are political. Officials in Prague are apparently worried -- with more than a little justification -- that a Democratic take-over of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would sound the death knell for cooperation with Washington on missile defense (and other international security issues), and are trying to create permanent, lasting defense links that will be difficult for the next president to dissolve.