[Stefan Stackhouse]

On another note, Thomas believes President Bush's decision to pull out of the ABM treaty will cause Russia and China to strengthen their ties – to the detriment of the United States.

That will make about as much sense for Russia as the sheep making an alliance with the wolves because they dislike the border collies. Russia is facing over a billion Chinese to the East and a billion Muslims to the South, all enviously coveting Russia's territory and resources. There is absolutely no reason at this point why Russia and the US shouldn't be friends, but they need us far worse than we need them. If the Russians side with the Chinese against us, they will be sealing their own national doom.

[zog]

--why are the russians selling the chinese advanced weaponry if they fear the chinese so much? Why are the russians selling islamic states advanced weaponry, if they are having problems with islamic terrorists? Why are we building up the manufacturing facilities of china if china is a threat to us? Those and some other questions are all part of this mess, and in my opinion there is no one single correct answer to any of them.