[American Soldier]

and the Uighars against the Chinese

I think a lot of people have been inappropriately mentioning the Uighurs ever since 9/11. What the heck did we ever do for them? We're behind the power curve on this one - China is the one example where Christian and Muslim interests coincide. And it is the opinion of some circles that it is the Han Chinese converts that are the crazy Muslims - the folks in Eastern Turkistan do not generally lean towards Islamism - that way of thinking is not dominant among Turkic-speaking Muslims.

When the REAL war comes, it would sure be nice to have some Uighurs already groomed to host our A-Teams so we can sabotage the infrastructure of Central and Western China.

[marron]

I entirely sympathize with the Uighars, and agree with your analysis.

Many of the Chinese Turks were being trained and supported by Bin Ladin and his training camps. So an unfortunate fallout from our attack on him, and his previous attacks on us, is that we have had to close their training bases, and have temporarily thrown them over the side.

We most sincerely wanted the Chinese to stay out of our way as we were building up for the assault on the Taliban (remember the early, untrue, rumors that the Chinese were getting ready to attack us?). So we have cut the Uighars loose. At least publicly. I hope we can find a way to resume our support for them, as I agree that post Saddam, our next problem will be China.

And if the Chinese get snotty with us, we should certainly like to be in position to support the Chinese Turks in their fight for independence. And, heck, the Tibetans too.

Which, as an aside, I have been suggesting its time to pull out of Germany, and forward base our forces in Central Asia. Best to keep them close to where we are going to need them.