Reply #34: Sigh...whatever...helicopters and anti-aircraft missiles aren't there to start a war

[PacerLJ35]

You say American elites are in China selling arms...aside from a few helicopters and a smattering of other stuff, what has America sold to China that the Russians and French haven't already?

Are you really trying to say the US "baited" Russia into Afghanistan? No, the US/CIA didn't "create" the Taliban to bait Russia into Afghanistan...the Taliban didn't exist until after the USSR left.

And no, we don't start wars to "test" weapons. We have plenty of range space to test weapons. We knew our weaponry worked fine when Panama and other wars began. It's the media that spins up that nonsense that we "tested" the stealth fighter and other weapon systems in Panama and Iraq.

Ever read about a full history of Israel/Palestine/Judea? I have...a very long and tedious history of the region. It's been full of back-and-forth struggles of power since human civilization. People don't realize this, but the Israeli-Palestinian struggle dates back to Old Testament times. The region gained it's "Palestine" name after the second revolt against the Romans when the area was widely recognized as Judea. The Roman emperor was so infuriated he ordered all references to Judea to be disposed of, and renamed it Philistina...an insult to the Jews since the Philistines were their ancient enemy (ie, the story of David and Goliath...Goliath is often viewed by historians as a pseudonym for the Philistine army). Thus over the years Philistina became known as Palestine. The non-Jewish inhabitants converted to Islam. Modern-day Palestinians, which are often thought of as Moslem sub-culture of arabian descent, are actually more related to non-Jewish peoples that inhabited that area for years, mixed with some arab bedouins that were brought in by the Romans to blunt the Jewish population (and many Jews were dispersed throughout the empire in an effort to reduce their troublesome nationalism). Either way you look at it, it's a very long intwined history that's not simply going to be solved by blaming one side or the other.

Back to the topic at hand...Taiwan has an interest in deterring China. Taiwan and the US aren't the "war mongers" here. China has repeatedly stated that they continue to consider military action to take Taiwan. China is not interested in even a semi-autonomous Taiwan...they despise the Taiwanese political system where freedoms like free speech and multiple parties are allowed.

Consider it this way...say Vermont decides it wants to break with the US because the US no longer represents their values. The US states that it is seriously considering taking the state back by force. Vermont buys anti-aircraft missiles and helicopters...are they suddenly the war mongers?