China exerts new restrictions on exports of minerals critical to US weapons making. Okay, let’s broaden the four corners of this discussion, so we can see how we came to depend on the communist Chinese for these minerals. What caused us to import the material? If you said the earthfirster treehugger movement, congratulations – you’ve been payin’ attention. Like a group of bandits who put up a roadblock to keep lifesaving medical supplies from getting to where they’re needed, these hippies, through their buddies in the EPA, have used federal and state permitting restrictions and costs to stifle exploration for deposits in the United States. Until we start usin’ some common sense about these rare-earth metals, we’ll always be at the mercy of foreign government providers, who aren’t restricted by green regulations. For Christ’s sake – think about it. We have a Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the sole purpose of which is to get us by in times when our oil imports are interrupted so we can defend ourselves. Why is this any different?