Free Republic

N. Korea-Iran Ties Seem to Be Growing Stronger Weapons sales and joint observations of missile test launches have been reported. VIPs visiting Pyongyang celebrate 'cooperative relations.' By Barbara Demick, Times Staff Writer July 27, 2006 SEOUL — North Korea and Iran, two fiercely anti-American regimes, appear to be bolstering their military and diplomatic cooperation, including the possible sale of missiles to the Tehran government, intelligence sources said. An Iranian parliamentary delegation visiting Pyongyang was given a VIP welcome with a reception Monday at the North Korean Supreme People's Assembly to celebrate, as the North Korean news service put it, the...

NASA chief Michael Griffin appealed on Wednesday to the leaders of the world's leading space agencies to join NASA in its bid to send astronauts to the Moon and Mars. Unless they do, he said, there will be little point in completing the International Space Station. The ISS will make a perfect staging post for such missions, he believes. Griffin told the heads of the Russian, European, Japanese and British space agencies that now is the time to start planning a division of labour for the new manned missions. He was speaking at a British National Space Centre seminar at...

Whether you’re a free-loading virus or a meat-stealing monkey, selfishness pays. So how could cooperators survive in a cheater’s world? Thomas Flatt, a postdoctoral research associate at Brown, was part of a group that created a theoretical model that neatly solves this dilemma, which has stumped evolutionary biologists and social scientists for decades. The trick: Keep the altruists in small groups, away from the swindling horde, where they multiply and migrate. It’s a truth borne out in biology and economics: Selfishness pays. Viruses can steal enzymes to reproduce. Tax evaders can take advantage of public services to survive and thrive....

Asia has a paltry 5% of the world's oil reserves. Compare that to the former Soviet Union which has more than one fifth (20.8%) and Africa and the Middle East, which have nearly 2/3s of the oil reserves (60.5%). What to do...China National Petroleum Co. and India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp. teamed up to buy a Syrian oil field! I thought about doing that once -- buying a gas station. But then, I realized I still had to buy the gas before I could pump it out. The reason India and China went in to buy the field together...

Three simple games determine when and why humans cooperate Look around you. If you're reading this, it means that you are embedded in a world-spanning network of cooperation. It’s embodied in the computer and the screen you’re using. It probably comes from somewhere in Asia and its parts were designed, manufactured, and assembled in factories employing thousands of people scattered across the globe. Its parts are made from minerals and plastics that likely come from all six inhabited continents. The electricity used to power your desktop or laptop streams in through a network of wires connecting you to a power...

Oh Dear : An International Highway Between Texas and Canada !! How about a few Facts ? Interstate Hwy # 69 was first conceived of in the 1950s. Further planning was done as a result of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act of 1991. On 01/01/94, NAFTA -proposed by GHW Bush,adopted and promoted vigorously by WB Clinton - became law. It called for-among other things-economic cooperation among the US ,Mexico,and Canada. On 04/29/94, the Joint Working Committee on transportation Planning (US and Canada)signed a memo of understanding-with the consent of both governments. In October,2000,a similar memo of understanding betweeen the...

Japan and China have bad blood between them. It is Japan's fault. It is war's fault. Japan does not appear to apologize enough and the Chinese aren't forgiving enough, either. Of course, there are visits to shrines and text-book revision attempts to consider as well. There is also the need to understand the differences in cultures. They look alike, but they are NOT alike. Nevertheless, the Chinese approach to business is quite pragmatic. They (the Chinese) are quite capable of setting aside differences for the sake of expediency. Some, perhaps many, would question that. Japan has decided it would grant...

NEW DELHI , June 5, 2006 – Talks at a weekend security summit in Singapore moved beyond questioning if terrorism is a threat to discussing how to counter it - a sign that nations are ready to work together, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. Marine Gen. Peter Pace said at a news conference that he was struck by how nations have progressed in coming to terms with the terrorism issue. Gone appear to be the days when people debated whether terrorism is a threat, Pace told reporters during his visit here to discuss U.S.-Indo...

NEW DELHI, June 4, 2006 – The highest-ranking U.S. military officer arrived here today to discuss regional security issues in this strategic nation that, with its 1.1 billion population, represents the world's largest democracy. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet with India's military leaders and defense minister during a visit that also includes stops at the headquarters of India's Training Command at Shimla. The visit, Pace's first to India as chairman, will build on discussions during a bilateral meeting he participated in yesterday in Singapore with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and...

SINGAPORE, June 3, 2006 – More nations are freer than ever before, yet freedom is increasingly under assault from violent extremists and rogue nations, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today told defense ministers of Asian and Pacific nations meeting here this weekend. "In the present security environment, cooperation among free nations is not simply desirable, it is critical," Rumsfeld said in a speech at the International Institute of Strategic Studies' Asia Security Summit, also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue. Rumsfeld said this forum is valuable because it allows countries with like interests to meet and discuss transnational issues. "These gatherings...

WASHINGTON, May 17, 2006 – A new agreement between the United States and Australia opens the door to more information sharing and cooperation in research and development related to combating terrorism. Ambassador at Large Henry Crumpton (standing), the State Department's counterterrorism coordinator, looks on as Thomas O'Connell (left), assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, and Peter Shergold, Australia's secretary for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, sign a memorandum of understanding promoting counterterrorism cooperation May 17. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Thomas O'Connell, assistant secretary of defense for special...

The Global Education Conference held at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. last month was used to teach educators how to bring global issues into the classroom. But, when it came time to practice the logistics of coordinating a debate the political opinions of the teachers could not be suppressed. The organization that put together the conference, Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), claimed to be a non-partisan group established to “educate and engage Americans in global issues….[in order to] create a generation of Americans that will support a U.S. role in the world that is appropriate….” But what is appropriate? AID...

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, April 19, 2006 – A cooperative group of officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan and coalition forces in Afghanistan held its 16th meeting here today. Delegates to the Tripartite Commission included Gen. Ahsan Saleem Hyat, vice chief of the Army Staff of Pakistan; Gen. Bismullah Khan, chief of staff of the Afghan National Army; and U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, commander of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan. This was the third meeting in which the Afghanistan and Pakistan delegations were represented at the four-star-general level, U.S. officials said. Officials from NATO and the International Security Assistance Force again participated...

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2006 – U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley and Afghani Gen. Bismullah Khan met today and agreed that continued close cooperation between Afghan, coalition, NATO and Pakistani forces is essential to stabilizing Afghanistan and freeing the country of the Taliban and other terrorists. Freakley, commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force-76, and Bismullah , who serves in the Afghan National Army, met in Khan's office at the Afghan Ministry of Defense. Their Afghan National Army arranged the meeting. The Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police have worked cooperatively with each other and with coalition and...

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2006 – Improving cooperation and coordination among government agencies is vital to winning the global war on terrorism and ending circumstances that drive people to terrorism, top Defense Department officials said on Capitol Hill yesterday. "We must bring all elements of our national power to bear in this struggle against global terrorism, and we can only do that through effective interagency coordination at all levels," Thomas W. O'Connell, DoD's assistant secretary for special operations and low-intensity conflict, told members of the House Armed Services Committee. The most recent Quadrennial Defense Review states the Long War is "characterized...

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2006 – Partnerships and cooperation with allies and friendly nations are essential for the U.S. to address threats in the global war on terrorism, the deputy defense secretary said here today. The U.S. faces a wider array of threats and a more uncertain future than ever before, and no single country can stand up to these threats and win alone, Gordon England said at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency Worldwide Conference. To meet the diverse security challenges of the future, DoD must strengthen and adapt long-term alliances, as well as form relationships with new international partners, enabling...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, March 23, 2006 – The top U.S. general met with Saudi Arabian leaders here yesterday and discussed cooperation between the United States and the kingdom. In his first official visit as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Peter Pace praised Saudi King Abdullah for his "open and candid" discussions. Pace arrived here from Pakistan yesterday and met with Abdullah for more than an hour. He also met with Crown Prince Sultan, who also is minister of defense and aviation; Prince Khalid, assistant minister; and Chief of the General Staff Gen. Salih Al-Muhayya. "I told...

Clandestine American intelligence operatives have been working in deep cover within the Indian territory to help track down al Qaeda operatives and other terrorist groups. Relying largely on human intelligence, these operatives work with paid agents and also seek to infiltrate militant groups in various parts of India, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir. The United States believes that some at least of these groups may have been co-opted by al Qaeda to launch attacks inside and outside India against both Indian and US interests. Indo-US intelligence cooperation scaled unprecedented heights following the attack on the Indian Parliament, just three months...

Posted 01/10/06 10:05 China Says it Wants to Expand Sino-U.S. Military Relations By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BEIJING China is ready to expand its military relations with the United States, Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan said Jan. 10. Cao, who is also vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and a state councillor, made the remarks during a meeting with a delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives, the Xinhua news agency reported. Cao said both sides should make efforts to upgrade military ties to bring them on a par with the overall bilateral relationship, which he described as being on a...

Kislyak recap Counterterrorism Working Group meeting Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns praised counterterrorism cooperation between the United States and Russia December 2 following the 14th meeting of the U.S.-Russian Counterterrorism Working Group in Moscow. The working group decided to enhance cooperation against narcotics trafficking, according to Burns and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislyak, who briefed the press together after the meeting. The meeting was “excellent,” Burns said. “We're pleased by the cooperation that our federal services have together on the counterterrorism fight around the world. We are pleased by what we will try to do now to enhance...