Dear Paul1405,

No I did not learn history from watching re-runs of old John Wayne movies.

I did some history towards my BA and later did an MA in history. Plus I also did an MA in sociology, which as everyone knows is a sister discipline of modern history.

And you my learned friend, how did you acquire your skills and knowledge in history?

Hi Is Mise, salutations, and love to you once more,

Unfortunately you and I will never be able to communicate on an intelligent level. With me supplying the intelligence, and you being at the base level. I will continue to post thoughtful material containing wisdom and knowledge, and you shall continue to reply with your usual grunts and groans. As I respect the other primates I respect you.
Like the Christian Christ spoke to his disciples at a level they could not comprehend, when I speak to you of why war is unjustified and crazy, you like Christs disciples fail to comprehend.

I understand you are a veteran of that unjustified crazy Asian war in Korea. I will gather with others at 6am Monday morning and sincerely and respectfully, remember you and the countless others, who through no fault of their own were subjected to the barbarity, brutality and horrors of war. Peace for ever.

Hi folks,

Hot off the press a news item criticising China for wanting to use nuclear power in the South China Sea for its man-made military-cum-industrial islands:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/south-china-sea-dispute-beijing-plans-floating-nuclear-power-plants-20160422-goddyz.html

Is it just me or does anyone else get the impression that China doesn't give a stuff about anything or anyone except itself and its quest for global dominance?

Mr O,

I note your SMH article came out of Washington from an anonymous source, would it not be somewhat more creditable if it came out of Beijing with a Chinese government reference.

Then there is comment attributed to Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Centre for a New American Security,

According to the C for a NAS its goal is to develop "strong, pragmatic and principled national security and defense policies that promote and protect American interests and values."

I am sure you could get a more unbiased opinion watching re-runs of old John Wayne movies.

Hot of the press. Mr O do you work for the CIA or Disneyland? It don't matter, they are one in the same

Dear Paul1405,

I'm not interested in doing a detailed analysis of the articles. I'm only interested in following the events that appear to be leading to a war between China and the US over China's annexation of the South China Sea. I find these news reports on the web are a very good source for keeping track of the way things are heading.

In history we're trained to put together the pieces that show the cause and effect of events e.g. WW1, American Civil War, etc, etc. Historians are the only people I know of who are specifically trained to do this. That skill in dealing with the past also allows historians to trace out the events of a current situation in order to assess what the effects may be.

I'm sorry if I've upset folks on the Forum with my doom and gloom assessment of a pending war right on your doorstep. Maybe everyone would prefer if I said something like:

1. China is a really good and honest nation who doesn't want to cause a war.
2. China is not trying to steal oil and gas from its SE Asian neighbours but is actually in the process of pumping oil and gas into the sea so that others can use it.
3. There are very few Chinese in Australia and none of those have any connection with China. Or in fact even know about China.
4. I only imagine that there are huge numbers of Chinese in Sydney. It's all a figment of my imagination.
5. There are no reports on the web about a conflict in the South China Sea.

Isn't the truth wonderful. Now we can all forget about this nasty talk of war and Chinese takeovers because it's all just a figment of Mr Opinion's imagination. There's no Chinese, there's no South China Sea, and there's nobody eating raw unpeeled onions and collecting free fake $40K Rolexes.

Mr O,

There is a subtle difference between facts and propaganda, and your SMH article contained no relevant facts, just supposition and speculation. Is that how you "historians" work.

This article might help you put a bit more of that history of yours together. It suits your narrative it has China and Russia starting WWIII against your beloved United States. It came from a creditable source a self styled Nostradamus, at least its not by a Greek Cafe owner Mr Anonymous, which is where your article came from.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/621486/New-Nostradamus-Prophet-claims-WWIII-start-JUNE-six-months-after-Europe-closes-borders