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WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2007 – The United States has stood as a friend and partner of Israel since its independence in 1948, and that situation won’t change, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here yesterday evening. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates receives the Henry M. Jackson Distinguished Service Award from Robert Stevens, chairman of Lockheed Martin, at the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs annual dinner in Washington, D.C., Oct. 15, 2007. Defense Dept. photo by Cherie A. Thurlby   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. In an age of Middle Eastern-sourced terrorism with global reach that is...

Iraq plans to propose one final extension to the UN Security Council mandate for the American deployment, the AP reports this morning. After the end of 2008, Iraq wants to directly negotiate a bilateral security arrangement with the US similar to that of Kuwait and Qatar: Iraq wants the U.N. Security Council to extend the mandate of the 160,000-stong U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq only through the end of 2008, then replace it with a long-term bilateral security agreement, Foreign Ministry officials said Saturday. Aides to Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the mandate extension for the U.S.-led coalition, due to...

CANBERRA, Australia, Sept. 21, 2007 – The commander of U.S. Pacific Command wrapped up two days of meetings here today with Australian government and military leaders to explore ways to enhance their already rock-solid partnership in promoting stability in the region and beyond. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, right, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, renders a salute after inspecting a formation of Australian troops on his arrival at the Australian Defense Force headquarters in Canberra, Australia, Sept. 21, 2007. Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, Australia’s defense chief, looks on. Defense Dept. photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution...

FORT COLLINS, Colo., Aug. 13, 2007 – A troop-support group and a national home-building company launched their new partnership with a surprise announcement during an Aug. 11 event here. John Gonsalves of Homes for Our Troops (left), Tracy Keil (center), Gabe Lopez of Pulte Homes and Army Sgt. Matthew Keil (seated) are all smiles at American Military Family's "Hoedown for Heroes" event Aug. 11, 2007 in Fort Collins, Colo. Defense Dept. photo by David Evans  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Homes for Our Troops and Pulte Homes announced their intent to build an adapted home for Army Staff...

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) was launched in March of 2005 as a trilateral effort to increase security and enhance prosperity among the United States, Canada and Mexico through greater cooperation and information sharing. This trilateral initiative is premised on our security and our economic prosperity being mutually reinforcing. The SPP recognizes that our three great nations are bound by a shared belief in freedom, economic opportunity, and strong democratic institutions. The SPP provides the framework to ensure that North America is the safest and best place to live and do business. It includes ambitious security...

The United States and the European Union have signed up to a new transatlantic economic partnership at a summit in Washington. The pact is designed to boost trade and investment by harmonising regulatory standards, laying the basis for a US-EU single market.

From the Desk of Congressman Conaway Reply Thank you for contacting me in regards to the North American Partnership. I appreciate the opportunity to respond. In March of 2005, President Bush along with the former Canadian Prime Minister, Paul Martin and Mexican President, Vicente Fox, reached broad agreements that would enhance security in North America. The goals of the agreement are to ensure the highest continent-wide security standards and streamlined risk-based border processes. Part of the agreement will develop a consistent traveler security screening process at foreign ports and develop a cargo security strategy that ensures compatible screening methods at...

Author Jerome Corsi says he expects his new book will bring a great deal of criticism from those who don't want the truth exposed about the Security and Prosperity Partnership -- a White House-endorsed policy he says could result in a "North American Union." In The Late Great U.S.A.: The Coming Merger With Mexico and Canada, Dr. Corsi contends that the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) created in 2005 has the goal of creating what amounts to a North American version of the European Union. He describes the SPP as "a treasonous plan" to create a new government "in stealth...

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2007 – The traditional concept of defense has given way to a new model of security, bringing concepts such as partnership and cooperation to the fore, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe said here. Navy Adm. Henry G. Ulrich delivered that message to the 124 participants of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies' Program in Advanced Security Studies during an address here March 1. Ulrich is also commander of Allied Joint Task Force Command Naples, in Italy, and has operational responsibility for NATO missions in the Balkans, Iraq and the Mediterranean....

ARLINGTON, Va., March 1, 2007 – International partnership is vital in the war on terror, a senior defense official said yesterday at the 18th annual Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict Symposium here. “Our foreign special operations face is absolutely critical,” Thomas W. O’Connell, assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, said. O’Connell said there are new models of success in the war on terror, and mentioned the 2002 U.S.-Philippine combined action against the Abu-Sayyaf organization as an example of international cooperation against the global threat. U.S. special operations forces there trained and assisted Filipino forces, and...

A consortium of seven newspaper chains representing 176 daily papers across the country is announcing a broad partnership with Yahoo to share content, advertising and technology, another sign that the wary newspaper business is increasingly willing to shake hands with the technology companies they once saw as a threat. In the first phase of the deal, the newspaper companies will begin posting their employment classified ads on Yahoo’s classified jobs site, HotJobs, and start using HotJobs technology to run their own online career ads.

COLUMBUS, Ohio , Sept. 15, 2006 -- In a significant event in the diplomatic arena, an agreement signed here a week ago kicked off a partnership between the state of Ohio and the Republic of Serbia. Serbian President Boris Tadic (left) holds a Minutemen statue presented to him by U.S. Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, during a Sept. 7 dinner for Tadic at Blum’s home at Fort McNair, in Washington. Tadic endorsed Serbia’s participation in the National Guard’s State Partnership Program with Ohio during his visit to the U.S. Photo by Master...

Welcome to the Minuteman Project The Minuteman Project and "Operation Sovereignty" by Jim Gilchrist, Founder of The Minuteman Project and Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D.From all over the nation, volunteers of The Minutemen Project are loading up their lawn chairs and binoculars, preparing to head to Laredo, Texas to join us on the border for Operation Sovereignty. From 9/11 until the November Election Day, The Minutemen Project plans to bring to national attention the threat to our national sovereignty that this massive invasion of illegal immigrants represents. As co-authors of Minutemen: the Battle to Secure America's Borders, we have sought to...

Sgt. Karim Bourhim, who worked as an interpreter for V Corps Artillery during events at the Sgt. Roberto Arizola Jr. Range, MNC-I, shows an Iraqi Soldier how to operate the M-249 squad automatic weapon. Department of Defense photo. CAMP SLAYER -- As part of program to help U.S. service members build stronger ties with their Iraqi counterparts, the U.S. Army’s V Corps Artillery recently provided primary marksmanship instruction to Iraqi Soldiers.The Partnership for Peace program has as its goal the strengthening of bonds between U.S. and Iraqi troops, to improve their effectiveness in joint security and other types of operations.Soldiers...

John Hawkins apparently has taken on a mission to prove that the Bush Administration is not creating a North American Union to replace the United States, or a new currency -- the Amero -- to replace the U.S. dollar. Recently, in a blog debate on this website, I exchanged views with Mr. Hawkins. When Mr. Hawkins declined to respond in what the editors termed “Round 4” of that debate, I concluded Mr. Hawkins allowed me to have the final word because he lacked a convincing rejoinder. Now, we see Mr. Hawkins wants to carry on the debate but this time...

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, the Virginia Republican who has assumed leadership of his party's more liberal members of Congress, said yesterday that conservative groups such as the Club for Growth are hurting the party by refusing to help candidates who don't pass their "litmus test" and by attacking some incumbent Republicans. Mr. Davis said he and his group, the Republican Main Street Partnership, "don't go after Republican incumbents. Ultimately, that's not how you build a governing majority." The partnership consists of 58 members of the House and Senate, plus four governors. --snip-- Mr. Davis said his partnership, unlike the...

Sometimes you read an article in the newspaper, and you just wonder aloud how some people's views of the world can be so skewed, and wonder if they are even from the same planet as you. Now I admit that usually, in the context of politics, that is me reading the latest rant of a Howard Dean or an Al Gore. But in the article I am referring to today, it is Congressman Tom Davis of Virginia, a Republican, who heavily quoted in an article in today's Washington Times entitled, GOP Left Slams Club for Growth. Davis is the head...

With virtually no mention in the mainstream media, Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez convened on June 15, the first meeting of the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), an apparently extra-constitutional advisory group organized by the Department of Commerce (DOC) under the auspices of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). A March 31 press release on the White House website, under the title “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America: Progress,” announced the formation of the NACC. The press release noted that the NACC would meet annually “with security and prosperity Ministers and will engage with senior government officials on an...

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2006 – Now that they have collected the goods, it's time to send them. Checkers/Rally's, the nation's largest double drive-through restaurant, has teamed up with a grassroots troop support group called Operation Gratitude in a drive to collect packages for America's servicemembers overseas. The partnership, called the Patriotic Drive, started on May 8 and ended yesterday with 720 drive-through restaurants across the country offering drop-off points. Packages will be delivered to the troops by July 4th. "Our troops throughout the world will know they are appreciated and supported at home this Fourth of July when they...

NEW DELHI, June 5, 2006 – The top U.S. general spent today meeting with India's defense and military leaders to consider ways for the United States and India to further expand their military partnership. Marine Gen. Peter Pace (right), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, takes part in a briefing in New Delhi on June 5, along with his Indian counterpart, Adm. Arun Prakash (center). The visit to India is Pace's first as chairman. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "We want to explore possibilities that allow us to have...