The M.I.C. Rumbles On

With another new week comes another new round of notifications to Congress from the DSCA about new arms sales to various countries, mostly friendly, but others perhaps less so. Moral questions abound surrounding the sales of military weapons to various regimes throughout the world, not the least of which being whether a country can afford the expenditure, but perhaps more importantly, whether the weapons will be used to crush opposition, as may be the case in Kenya. It might also be the case that the 33 T-72's were bound for South Sudan, for the purpose of re-newing the civil war. Interfering with the transfer of arms, of course, is a dangerous game, and will probably not end well.

In Taiwan, the lack of arms sales are much more of a controversy. The Taiwanese government is being vexed by inter-department review in the Bush Administration of its desired arms package. Currently, the brouhaha is boiling down to a game of fingerpointing between the GMT and the former ruling party the DPP. Either way, this type of arms sales, including heavy duty equipment such as attack helicopters and surface to air missiles would certainly force the People's Republic of China to take notice and be concerned.

More Sabre Rattling?

In a new twist, the White House is almost appearing the most reasonable party involved in the latest geopolitical saber rattling, or flashpoint, developing as Venezuelan troops are reportedly completely deployed in three regions along the Columbian border, aside from invoking the word terrorism in defense of the Columbian military raid into Ecuador. The matter is further complicated by assertions that FARC was dealing in Uranium. After all, no military adventure is too costly when defending the world against Weapons of Mass Destruction. There is a qualitative difference in this tension, though, as it is being complicated by an arms deal. In this case, the vaunted F-16 would have been sold to Venezuela from Spain, had it not been for a veto from the United States. Secretary of Defense Gates is comfortable in the ability of the Columbian military to handle their own affairs. This is hardly the first time that there has been tension along this border, as observable by the airstrips built into the road system in eastern Columbia. The investment community has signalled strong support for the Columbian side, pushing the Columbia's main stock exchange to the highest gain on world markets. As usual, the Wikipedia site on the incident is the most comprehensive.

In other news, Syrian and Saudi officials met in Cairo in an effort to relieve the tensions in the region, namely in Gaza, Iraq, and Lebanon. The Saudis then held discussions on the side with an American envoy. The USS Cole has been relieved off the coast of Lebanon by two U.S. warships and has passed through the Suez Canal en route to the Persian Gulf, signaling a wider build up of U.S. Naval forces in the region. The head of Egypt's Head of Intelligence, Omar Suleiman, has canceled a planned visit to Israel, perhaps reflecting a response to Ban Ki-Moon's letter, a denunciation of Israel's operations in the Gaza Strip, a snub at the U.S.-led bloc, or a combination of the three. Judging from the militaristic propaganda, and pondering minor war crimes to avoid major war crimes, Israel is ready to fight.

Does anyone remember Somalia? The United States has conducted another air strike there, which is sure to keep the fires of war still burning.