An important Meeting; US and Australia agree to coordinate counter terrorism efforts in Southeast Asia

Today,in Adelaide Australia, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, Defense Minister Robert Hill and US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick met and agreed to coordinate anti-terrorism strategy both in Iraq and in Southeast Asia.Xinhua - English

This is a major development, sparked by the recent relevations that Australia's nuclear power facility was targeted by home grown Islamic terrorists..and by the reality of the on going Jihad in Thailand, and the Phillipines..and the continued efforts to subvert Islamic governments in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Australia now has perhaps the most comprehensive anti-terror laws in the western world, and has remained a staunch US ally in Iraq under the inspiring leadership of John Howard.

Mark Steyn has opined on the idea of the `anglosphere' as an alliance against terror, consisting of a core of Australia, India, the US, and Britain, combined with other allied countries like Poland. Given the new nuclear deal signed between India and the US (as reportd here in Joshuapundit) Steyn may be on to something.