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To: Sun Tzu who wrote (18159)	7/15/2005 8:33:06 PM
From: 49thMIMOMander	Respond to of 20773

Ms Rice sniffs the under-wonder-US-wears of the former administration (but not yet the sunshine-politics non-agression pact) ---- Rice praises South Korean energy aid plan that enticed the North Associated Press 2005-07-13 - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday praised South Korea for getting North Korea to end its 13-month boycott of nuclear disarmament talks by pledging energy aid, and expressed hope for an end to the international standoff with the communist nation. The United States and South Korea are "very optimistic that our joint efforts to improve the security situation on the Korean Peninsula could indeed bear fruit, although of course there is still much work to be done," Rice said during a visit to Seoul. "The agreement of the North Koreans to come back to the talks is a very good step but only a first step," she said, appearing at a news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. "We look forward to a strategic decision by the North Koreans to abandon their nuclear weapons." North Korea said over the weekend that it would return to the nuclear talks during the week of July 25 after being reassured by the top U.S. nuclear envoy that Washington recognized the North's sovereignty. The weapons negotiations _ which include China, Japan, Russia, the two Koreas and the United States _ last convened in June 2004. Rice's optimism was echoed by President Roh Moo-hyun, whom she met earlier Wednesday. "If such attitudes of the North and mutual trust accumulates, we can be optimistic about not only the North Korean nuclear issue, but the situation on the Korean Peninsula in general," Roh told Rice, according to his office. Ahead of Rice's arrival, South Korea revealed Tuesday it offered to provide electricity to the North if it agrees to give up its nuclear weapons at the revived arms talks _ a previously secret proposal made directly to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at a meeting with a South Korean minister last month. Seoul's new plan to deliver electricity directly to the North is "a very creative idea" and "gives an opportunity for the North Koreans to address questions of their energy needs," Rice said Wednesday. "It can be clear to anyone who looks at photographs of what North Korea looks like at night that they have energy needs," Rice said. Shortages of electricity in the North mean its half of the peninsula is shrouded almost entirely in darkness in satellite photographs, a stark contrast with the bright lights of the capitalist South. Rice noted the North's energy needs also were addressed in a U.S. proposal made at the last nuclear talks in 2004 that she said "is still on the table." Washington has promised diplomatic recognition and economic aid to the North only after it verifiably dismantles its nuclear weapons program. The United States agreed in 1994 to build two atomic reactors in the North _ using a type that doesn't produce radioactive material for nuclear bombs _ in exchange for it halting its nuclear programs. That project stalled and other energy aid to the North was halted after the latest nuclear crisis broke out in late 2002, after U.S. officials accused the North of running a secret uranium enrichment program. Rice said the revived arms talks should address all the North's nuclear programs _ both its admitted plutonium projects, as well as the uranium enrichment program. "Nuclear weapons programs mean nuclear weapons programs, period." The South's main nuclear negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, said Wednesday that he believed North Korea would agree to the energy proposal. "I expect them to accept this in whatever form, considering their immediate need," Song told SBS radio. Song also told opposition lawmakers that the South was ready to prove to the North that its military facilities and U.S. bases are free of nuclear weapons, according to a transcript of his Tuesday meeting from the Democratic Labor Party. North Korea has repeatedly accused the United States of having nuclear weapons in the South for a planned invasion, a charge that Washington denies. Meanwhile in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, a Chinese special envoy met Wednesday with the North's No. 2 leader, Kim Yong Nam. State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan and Kim "held talks in a friendly atmosphere," the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported. The talks had been expected to touch on the nuclear issue, but there was no mention in the report. South Korea this week also pledged to give 500,000 tons of rice to North Korea _ Seoul's largest food shipment in five years _ in aid that is not directly tied to the nuclear issue that was agreed to during economic talks between the two Koreas. Seoul was the last stop of Rice's Asian tour before her scheduled return to Washington later Wednesday. =========== However, considering how the US has been spinning around their sledge in all possible directions, maybe some 5,483 up-and-down-side-turns even before that first crucial (two-party) election, maybe they will slow down their funny cannons (in another 250 years??) The China-Russia-stuff was already mentioned somewhare on SI. (but I think this was funnier, and neither one mentioned EU nor India, nor Africa nor South America)

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (18159)	7/16/2005 4:52:08 PM
From: tsigprofit	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 20773

I believe Russia, China, and Iran already have some understanding of this possibility. The Russia/China cooperation is well known already. The US will have a hard time against the combined group in Asia. We are bankrupting ourselves now to try, but are heading IMO much more toward a Soviet Union style overstretch. We thought we'd won against the Soviets in 1989, but Communism was already bankrupt years ago. The real challenge to us - a -peer challenge, is a market driven China with massive amounts of investment around the world - and allies including Russia, India, and parts of Europe and Latin America. We are on a very poor outcome path here in the US. I hope it can be reversed with the ending of King George's rein in January 2009 - if not before.

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (18159)	7/18/2005 4:03:41 AM
From: zonder	Respond to of 20773

"The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), an alliance grouping Russia, China and central Asian countries on Tuesday called for the US-led anti-terrorist coalition in Afghanistan to set a time frame for withdrawing its forces from member states. Both Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan host US bases whose troops are involved in the Afghanistan operation. The SCO also added Pakistan, Iran and India as observer nations. The additions bolster the grouping’s clout. Russia in particular in recent years has pushed for what it calls a “multipolar” world, seeking to balance alleged US domination of foreign policy issues." dailytimes.com.pk