Why do people think that the U.S. buying off terrorists/Iraqi insurgents/moderate Taliban is a new thing?

It's not a new thing, it's a tactic that has backfired, it will not work again. The US government, mainly CIA operatives, armed Bin laden, and his band of fighters, of course to remove the Soviets from Afghanistan. We later got those guns pointed at us when we established an airfield in Afghanistan. When we armed the Sunnis in Iraq to fight al-Qaeda, we later found out those weapons were turned onto our soldiers. So, it's basically a useless and dangerous way to distribute weapons for strategic/political gains. It will only get our men killed, and only make problems worse. Good post.