Free Republic

Poland's defense minister said in comments broadcast Thursday that his nation will send at least 900 troops to eastern Afghanistan next year. NATO said the offer did not ease the immediate need for 2,500 additional soldiers in the violence-wracked south. A NATO official said the Polish deployment was routine and had been arranged before the call for additional soldiers. The 900 new troops will join 100 Polish soldiers already in eastern Afghanistan, and NATO spokesman Lt. Col. Goetz Haffke said the Polish troops had been expected as part of a routine rotation of NATO troops. "This is part of a...

Taiwan is considered by some Americans as the 13th closest ally of the United States among a list of 25 countries, ranking far ahead of China, which takes 23rd place, according to the results of a survey released recently by Harris Interactive Inc. The survey was conducted from July 5-11 among 1,020 adults, but only approximately 500 people were asked about each country. It had a margin of error of 4 percentage points. The survey shows that 25 percent of the respondents think Taiwan is a close ally of the United States, 36 percent think Taiwan is friendly but not...