Alas, it does seem to be true, but the saying is true. Those with the ability to defend themselves are not nearly as likely to be attacked as those who are weak. Look at Iraq and Kuwait. Israel has fought off three major wars since 1948, and today the thought of a full-scale national attack is all but unthinkable because Israel maintains a strong military and is ultimately backed by the United States. The Brits were strong, and kicked Argentina's byootoxums up around their earbones, much to the delight of the Falklanders.
Because of military strength those that do not posses it have to rely on pinprick attacks through surrogates like Al Qaida, Hamas, Hezbollah, and others like them, and just hope that maybe someday they'll provoke a war that they hope they will win the same way the North Vietnamese won: by sacrificing their own people wholesale and waiting out the storm until the pacifists in our own free societies turn public opinion against our own governments by recasting the war as "Goliath vs. David." It can be hard not having a Nazi Germany or USSR as an antagonist.
