Daily Press Review/Atlantic-Pacific Alliance

At any hour of the day, Monday to Friday, you can check additions to our news & commentary database here:

http://www.atlanticpacificalliance.com/news.html

U.S., South Korea Sign Pact on Clean Coal-Fired Power Plant / Freedom's Beacon Still Burning / My Salute to the Troops / Hamdan / John F. Kennedy Speech on Unconventional War and the Press / Training, ability, and morale of today's military / Off Shore Drilling Victory Step In The Right Direction / Anti-Bush Pentagon officials leak military secrets to Iran / Airbus and parent company fire two top executives / Can dismissal of the Delay case be far behind? / Iraq: Posturing Over Amnesty / President Bush’s Agenda for the G-8 Meeting in St. Petersburg / Congress Must Not Shortchange the Military at a Time of War / Mexico: One of the Most Electrifying Election Nights Ever / Foiling Beijing's cyber cops / Free Trans-Atlantic Trade / Chinese investment provides lifeline to Kim Jong Il's bankrupt regime / Academic manifesto takes root / Supreme Court Warms Up To Climate Change / Bad science, bad health: Health fads kill the poor / Mold Growth in Flooded Homes No Cause for Alarm / Articles in Spanish

To receive any of the following, free of charge, ask or send your request to Jorge Mata:

Any US State Dept., US Defense Dept., or any other US Government agency article, transcript, press release, briefing report, etc.

Any article, roundtable, etc., of Frontpage Magazine (index in http://www.frontpagemag.com), National Review (http://www.nationalreview.com), The National Interest (http://www.nationalinterest.org), Foreign Affairs (http://www.foreignaffairs.org/current/), The Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/current), etc.

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Today's articles (free of charge, sometimes registration needed):

Politics/Economy/Society

- U.S., South Korea Sign Pact on Clean Coal-Fired Power Plant

http://www.doe.gov/news/3778.htm

- Freedom's Beacon Still Burning. By George W. Bush [Weekley Radio Address Excerpted]

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23200

America stands beside those who yearn for freedom, everywhere in the world

- My Salute to the Troops. By Donald H. Rumsfeld

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23198

- Supreme Folly on Hamdan. By Joseph Klein

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23204

Gitmo's murderers: now protected by High Court decree

- John F. Kennedy Speech on Unconventional War and the Press: "The President and the Press" (April 27, 1961)

http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/diglibrary/prezspeeches/kennedy/jfk_1961_0427.html

- A View from the Ground. By Bill Steigerwald

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23203

Oliver North discusses the training, ability, and morale of today's military. (Hint: They're all high.)

- Off Shore Drilling Victory Step In The Right Direction

http://eteam.ncpa.org/news/off-shore-drilling-victory-step-in-the-right-direction

- Anti-Bush Pentagon officials leak military secrets to Iran. By David Horowitz

http://www.frontpagemag.com/blog/BlogEntry.asp?ID=678

- Airbus and parent company fire two top executives, by Thomas Lifson

http://americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=5490

- Can dismissal of the Delay case be far behind? By Clarice Feldman

http://americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=5485

- Iraq: Posturing Over Amnesty. By Charles Krauthammer

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/06/post_15.html

- President Bush’s Agenda for the G-8 Meeting in St. Petersburg by Ariel Cohen, Ph.D.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/RussiaandEurasia/bg1948.cfm

The G-8 meeting on July 15 and the Bush–Putin summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, may mark the most serious tests of U.S.–Russian and East–West relations

- Congress Must Not Shortchange the Military at a Time of War by Baker Spring and Brian M. Riedl

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm1141.cfm

On June 20th, the House of Representatives passed its fiscal year 2007 Defense Appropriations bill

- Mexico: One of the Most Electrifying Election Nights Ever. By Michael Barone

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/07/mexico_one_of_the_most_electri.html

- Foiling Beijing's cyber cops, by Bill Xia, CEO of Dynamic Internet Technology Inc. (www.dit-inc.us)

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-xia3jul03,0,7554211.story

'Tunnels' help Chinese users bypass censorship and access blocked Western websites

Education/Culture/Media

- Academic manifesto takes root. By Valerie Richardson

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20060703-123445-8832r.htm

Science/Health

- Supreme Court Warms Up To Climate Change

http://www.worldclimatereport.com/index.php/2006/06/30/supreme-court-warms-up-to-climate-change/

- Bad science, bad health: Health fads kill the poor, by Mark Weston

http://www.accra-mail.com/mailnews.asp?id=17169

- Mold Growth in Flooded Homes No Cause for Alarm. By Julianne Chickering

http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.790/news_detail.asp

Technology

M-SYSTEMS IS RESTATING results for several years due to stock-option problems. Meanwhile, Redback Networks received an informal SEC request for options information, as well as a Justice Department subpoena.

• Options Scorecard: Companies under scrutiny

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Luxembourg's Millicom broke off talks to be acquired by China Mobile after the two couldn't agree on a price. The deal, expected to be valued at more than $5 billion, would have been the biggest foreign acquisition by a Chinese company.

• PCCW to Sell Core Assets

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Nortel Networks rose on an analyst's upgrade, while Chinese telecom Qiao Xing climbed on optimistic financial guidance. The Nasdaq finished ahead 0.8% in Monday's abbreviated session.

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Global chip sales increased 9.4% in May, driven by strong demand for cellphones and other consumer electronics, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported.

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KLA-Tencor said a probe found that some stock options were wrongly dated and that it would likely need to take a charge and possibly restate earnings.

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Australia may scrap plans to sell its $18 billion stake in Telstra amid the telecom company's continuing battle with regulators over access to its high-speed broadband network.

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Merge Technologies said three top executives resigned as a result of the independent investigation into the medical office-software company's accounting and financial disclosures.

* * *

Cendant agreed to sell its Travelport unit to a Blackstone affiliate for $4.3 billion, in the first stage of a dismantling plan.

• Video: Cendant's Travelport CEO on the deal

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• France Approves iTunes Law

• USA Today Can't Confirm Part of NSA Piece

• Disney Amended Compensation Policy for Jobs

• Shadowcrew Co-Founder Is Sentenced

>>>>>>>>>>> You can request these articles at no charge. Call Jorge Mata at any time to ask.

In Spanish: Tropas americanas esposadas, por Michelle Malkin

http://www.gees.org/articulo/2686

¿Sabía que hay siete jóvenes Marines y un miembro del cuerpo médico de la Marina sentados ahora mismo en una prisión militar esposados en piernas y cintura - a pesar del hecho de que no han sido acusados de ningún crimen?

- Críticos asustados por comparar la política exterior Bush con la de Harry Truman. Por Max Boot

http://www.gees.org/articulo/2685/

Comentaristas sugerían que Bush debería en su lugar aprender de Truman la necesidad de reconocer los límites de la fuerza americana, aparcar la retórica grandilocuente y las acciones unilaterales, y encajar el poder americano en "una red" de instituciones multilaterales tales como Naciones Unidas o la OTAN

- Guantánamo: izquierdistas contra Bush

http://www.gees.org/articulo/2693/

Los pronunciamientos judiciales han venido a confirmar expresamente el derecho a capturar y detener a las gentes de Al Qaeda y afines y a retenerlos sin acusación ni juicio hasta el fin de las hostilidades

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Wall Street Journal (excerpts)

OPINION EUROPE AND OPINION ASIA

JOSE MARIA AZNAR

Free Trans-Atlantic Trade

Why is the U.S. off the European Union trade agenda?

ANDREI LANKOV

Bankrolling Pyongyang

Chinese investment provides lifeline to Kim Jong Il's bankrupt regime.

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Free Trans-Atlantic Trade

By JOSE MARIA AZNAR
July 4, 2006

Let's be honest -- Doha is stuck. As if anticipating the failure of the global trade round, European Commissioner Peter Mandelson is working on bilateral agreements with Canada and India. That is all very well. But why is the U.S. off the European Union trade agenda? America could become the only NAFTA member to be excluded from the EU's bilateral trade policy.

If the trans-Atlantic Allies can't even agree on commercial issues, how can they cooperate on a host of security threats, ranging from Islamic terrorism and their sponsoring regimes in the Middle East to securing our energy supplies, dealing with illegal immigration and the rise of populist and pro-Communist governments in South America? Just think what a common U.S.-EU trade position, Latin America's two biggest investors, could do to curb the arbitrary expropriations in Bolivia and Venezuela.

And yet, although trans-Atlantic business links run deep, the U.S. and EU have no shared political-economic project. It's high time to change that and work toward a formal U.S.-EU trade agreement to forge an "Atlantic Area of Prosperity." The potential benefits are huge. A recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that trans-Atlantic trade liberalization could lead to permanent per capita income gains of up to 3.5%. That is equivalent to a full year's income during a working lifetime.

It is absurd that U.S. goods and services face obstacles in getting into the EU and vice versa because of consumer or environmental protection regulation. The same applies to technical norms. Unless the U.S. and EU agree on common standards, which would immediately be accepted by the world, the two risk being leapfrogged by such rising stars as China or India who might instead set the global benchmarks.

Little needs to be said about the French threat to classify its yoghurt industry a "strategic" sector, a glaring example of protectionism. But protectionist government procurement policies on the other side of the Atlantic are just as counterproductive. The abuse of anti-dumping measures by the U.S and the EU has not only harmed consumers. It has also provoked tit-for-tat reactions from third countries. It was embarrassing to see the EU Commission impose safeguard measures on Chinese textile imports last summer in spite of the fact that the agreement to dismantle the quotas on these products was signed in 1995.

A trans-Atlantic trade initiative fits in well with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso's priority of promoting economic reforms and improving EU competitiveness. And yet, at last month's EU-U.S. summit, the leaders missed another opportunity to lift the trans-Atlantic economic relationship to a higher level.

With the collapse of the Doha talks possibly around the corner, a free trade agreement between the world's two largest economic zones would be the next best game in town. Fears that this might become a fortress or a closed "rich man's club" are baseless. Instead, it would serve as an engine for free trade elsewhere, providing prosperity not just to the U.S. and the EU but to anyone who wishes to join. Canada and many Latin American countries would be natural partners in such a deal. Instead of the usual trans-Atlantic platitudes, this would constitute real action for a change.

Mr. Aznar is a former prime minister of Spain.

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Bankrolling Pyongyang

By ANDREI LANKOV
July 4, 2006

When Chinese leaders characterized the country's alliance with North Korea as "closer than lips and teeth," it's unlikely they ever imagined mainland entrepreneurs roaming the streets of Pyongyang looking for investment opportunities. But that's what's happening in North Korea right now. An unprecedented influx of Chinese investment has provided an economic lifeline to Kim Jong Il's bankrupt regime, and risks complicating U.S.-led efforts to pressure Pyongyang to renounce its nuclear-weapons programs.

China is by far North Korea's largest trading partner, accounting for 52% of the isolated Stalinist state's total trade last year, according to the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) in Seoul. These ties continue to grow, with the volume of trade between the two countries reaching $1.6 billion in 2005 -- up 14.1% from the previous year.

Although the scant available statistics reflect trade rather than investment, it doesn't take long traveling in North Korea to see that the country is awash with Chinese entrepreneurs. Hotels and restaurants are increasingly controlled by Chinese interests. Supposed showpieces of Kim's regime, such as the First Department Store in Pyongyang, are now in the hands of China's Shenyang Zhongxu Group.

Beijing's biggest interests are in two strategic sectors -- mineral resources and infrastructure. Minerals accounted for 21% of all trade between North Korea and China last year, according to KOTRA. And several large Chinese investments were reported. These included a deal to acquire mining rights in the northeastern city of Musan, and a 50-year lease on the port of Najin.

The focus on North Korea's strategic sectors is a strong indicator that Chinese investment isn't simply the spontaneous initiative of profit-seeking Chinese entrepreneurs. So, too, is the fact that the recent surge began in 2001, when North Korea's economy was still in poor shape and hardly an attractive investment opportunity.

That suggests Beijing has made a strategic decision to encourage greater investments in the impoverished nation to try to sustain the status quo and, if that fails, to ensure its influence in a post-Kim era. China does not want North Korea to collapse as a result of an internal political crisis, which would only destabilize China's border region and result in a refugee crisis.

Worse still, from Beijing's perspective, is the risk that a collapse would lead to a replay of the German reunification scenario, with the North swallowed up by its more prosperous southern neighbor. While South Korea, under President Roh Moo Hyun, has made overtures to China in recent years, Beijing fears that a reunified Korea might become more assertive. And, if U.S. troops remained, they could be deployed along the Chinese border, a prospect Beijing expended hundreds of thousands of lives to prevent during the Korean War half a century ago.

Set against that historical background, encouraging investment in North Korea is a small price to pay to guard against the emergence of a hostile neighbor. Even if such a strategy fails to prevent the regime's collapse, it offers Beijing a fallback option. By acquiring such substantial economic influence over North Korea, China can ensure that any successor to Kim's regime would have to think very carefully about whether it was willing to risk antagonizing Beijing.

Never mind that China's economic lifeline makes it easier for North Korea to continue its gross human-rights violations. That's hardly a concern for Beijing. Neither does China need to pressure Pyongyang to renounce its nuclear-weapons programs. While China would prefer not to see a nuclear neighbor, the risk of Kim's regime collapsing is a far more ominous outcome for Beijing. While continuing to host the Six-Party Talks that bring together the two Koreas, the U.S., Japan and Russia, China is pursuing policies that undermine what little chance there is of them yielding results. That's because the premise of the talks is for North Korea to renounce its nuclear programs before receiving international assistance in reviving its economy. But that assistance is less necessary as the wave of Chinese investment increasingly accomplishes the same task.

Already there are signs that North Korea feels economically strong enough to roll back reforms and tighten social controls. Last year, it reintroduced a state rationing system for basic foodstuffs, and banned the sale of grain in the private markets that have sprung up across the country in recent years. Internal travel restrictions are more rigidly applied today than in the past, when the regime turned a blind eye to its starving citizens crisscrossing the country in search of food.

Now that it has so much investment from China, Kim's regime can not only delay economic reforms but even roll back those it has already introduced. And it has even fewer incentives to make concessions in the Six-Party Talks. Perhaps the regime will eventually change, but Beijing's assistance postpones the day that is likely to happen.

Mr. Lankov teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul.