So would I.
Most of the "suspicious" relationships presented in the author's Terrorist Trail are extremely subtle and based on both old alliances of ideological convenience (such as China's training of the ANC, FNLA, and others in the 70's) and new alliances of economic convenience (such as the CNPC's interest in Sudanese oil refineries). And I, like you, am inclined to believe that the latter alliances are simply natural by-products of a nation attempting to address future energy needs. However, my experience with the Chinese is not as colorful as the author's, so perhaps he sees something that I do not.
As I thought I made clear, I haven't been convinced of anything. Nor am I taking an apologist position for the "Jihadist/China/Africa nexus" theory. I was simply advising a previous poster, one who expressed interest in Poole's thoughts on said theory, that the author's latest work supposedly deals with the topic in greater detail.I respect Gunny Poole's work, but that doesn't mean I buy into all of it.
That's why I used thefunction in my post.quote
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