[bill1952]

Somebody should send a copy of this to every EU type in Europe.

The EU will be selling arms to what side, in the coming Asian storm?

[henkster]

A more active Japan is a start. I am dismayed by the "it's China's problem" approach to dealing with the North Korean whack job leader. (I must confess this is basically the MSM spin, as if that were a surprise). No, Psycho Kim's threat to peace is a threat to OUR peace, and we need to build, and lead, the coalition that will resolve the issue.

So, who else wants to step up? India? I'd think they'd want to contain China, and we can play India and China against each other in SE Asia.

And more importantly, who can we get to step up in the Middle East? At least, to be more visible. For one, I think we need to keep the former soviet-dominated nations engaged. They bring the fervor of the newly converted to the job of converting the region to democratic forms of government.

Can we get rapproachment with India here, too? They have axes to grind with the Islamo-terrorists.

[lotusblos]

"Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is an irritating man..."

Personally, I like him a lot. He's intelligent and says it like it is. If that's irritating to some, good. Those people should be irritated, their opinion doesn't mean anything anyway.

[Personal Responsibility]

Europe...Europe....nope, the name does not ring a bell.

[snowsislander]

While Europeans--well, French, Germans, and Belgians--are so self-referential that it's likely that the Japanese lesson will be lost on them, others will be paying close attention not only to the Japanese embrace of Pax Americana but to the reasoning behind it. In simplest terms, that reasoning is as follows: The spread of free and representative governments occasioned by the Pax Americana is not only morally good, but tends toward peace and prosperity; China and radical Islamists, by their own assertions, take issue with the current international order; and the use of military force is occasionally and lamentably necessary to preserve and protect that order. Ergo, a military alliance with the United States makes sense.

The above quote sounds good, that's for sure. Perhaps some or much of it is accurate. But I believe that a lot of progress is simply due to Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi, who I think is the best of the post-war prime ministers.

[BushisTheMan]

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is an irritating man, to be sure, but all the more so for being intermittently insightful.

Yep, I like how Rumsfeld irriates OLD Europe by saying they are not relevent, how he irritated that stupid congresswoman from California who had old troops numbers in the budget hearing, and especially how he irritates the far LEFT by strengthening the military.

Go Rummy!

[BushisTheMan]

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is an irritating man, to be sure, but all the more so for being intermittently insightful.

Yep, I like how Rumsfeld irritates OLD Europe by saying they are not relevent, how he irritated that stupid congresswoman from California who had old troops numbers in the budget hearing, and especially how he irritates the far LEFT by strengthening the military.

Go Rummy!