Free Republic

China on Tuesday said it would keep modernizing its nuclear program in the name of "safety" but called on the United States and Russia to make greater cuts to their arsenal stockpiles. ... ...Fu’s comments come one day after the five states recognized under the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) — the U.S., Russia, France, the United Kingdom and China, who are also the five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council — issued a joint pledge to lower the risk of nuclear war. The P5 affirmed that "nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought" and...

BALAD, Iraq, Nov. 1 - In one 24-hour stretch, America's successes and difficulties in this country showed themselves in the figure of Lt. Col. Nate Sassaman. On Friday, Colonel Sassaman stood before the newly elected Balad City Council, walking them through such democratic bedrocks as the secret ballot and the open meeting. On Saturday morning, after a couple of hour's sleep, Colonel Sassaman led a company of 150 soldiers on a series of house-to-house searches for weapons and guerrillas on the outskirts of town. "It's like Jekyll and Hyde out here," said Colonel Sassaman, a 40-year-old battalion commander and former...