Thursday, October 04, 2007

Iraq buying Chinese arms

The most interesting news in this article is that the Iraqi government is buying $100 million worth of small-scale military equipment from China. U.S. officials are expressing alarm, but the stated reason -- that due to the apparent disappearance of 190,000 weapons given to the Iraqis by the U.S. it's questionable whether the government can keep such materiel secure rather than having it fall into the hands of militias or Kurds harrassing Turkey -- while it has some validity, can't be the most fundamental reason. The real shock is that the Iraqis are turning to China. Don't they know it's our geopolitical rival of the future? And who are these uppity Iraqis to be making such decisions anyway? It's easier to say you want the Iraqis to be independent and sovereign than to stand back and watch them act like an independent sovereign.

There's also stuff about the latest casualties and Blackwater developments.

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