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The Spectacle Blog
The announcement that 20 F-16s are being given to Egypt, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer, should be of interest to senators already uneasy about the president’s widely reported choice of Susan Rice for Secretary of State, replacing the retiring Mrs. Hillary Clinton.
Wasteful public spending is not a primary concern of the State Department, though one assumes it is held accountable for waste within its own precincts, as are, surely, all the other federal departments and agencies, renowned for the self-sacrificing frugality in the finest spirit of ‘76. And to be sure, recommendations on what military hardware to give foreigners is not tasked to State, but, again, one assumes State has its say in these matters, particularly in a region like the Middle East where the balance of power is a permanent U.S. concern.
Many questions are raised by the administration’s decision to go forward with this high-military-tech transfer, approved two years ago for a rather different Egyptian regime, that of Hosni Mubarak. Since then certain events have happened in Egypt and Mr. Mubarak is out, incarcerated and awaiting sentencing for all kinds of crimes imputed him by the springtime Robespierres who overthrew him in the name of democracy.
And Islam.
So the first question for any high-ranking nominee whose brief includes foreign policy might be this: “For what does the Morsi government in Egypt need F-16s — one of the best fighter planes in the world?”
“Well,” the answer might be, after all the equivocations and sophistries about how this was a done deal and we cannot go back on our word and etcetera, “to defend themselves.”
“Against whom?”
The Morsi regime does not need F-16s to defend itself against insurgents, should there eventually be an insurgent movement in Egypt. To be sure, the Assad regime has been using fighter aircraft against insurgents, striking even targets in densely populated urban centers. Senators should be ready with a follow up, to wit, “Do you expect the Morsi government to be at war with its own people soon, and do you think it should be U.S. policy to help it prevail by raining down death from the sky?”
On the other hand, if that is our policy, I mean if it is our policy to help Morsi with such a policy, F-16s are not the weapons system of choice, so a line of questioning might be prepared to ask why alternative aircraft are not being proposed to the no doubt grateful and beholden Egyptians.
But the question senators must eventually get to is the one that would go to the heart of both matters — the matter of a new secretary and the matter of taxpayer paid military support for the Morsi regime: What should the U.S. demand of this government?
The aim of foreign policy is to protect American interests, of which at the very top are our security and the security of our allies. We have only one ally in the part of the world Egypt bestrides, the junction of Africa and the Near East, namely: Israel. So the only question to put to the nominee, which is really a question to the president, is this: Can you guarantee that the Morsi government will never use F-16s against Israel? Either you cannot, in which the administration in which you wish to serve is putting American security at risk; or you can, but in that case there is no justification for a gift to Egypt worth hundreds of millions, unless you can demonstrate that Egypt may soon find itself at war against another of its neighbors — which would mean an Arab nation or an African one. Why we should assist either side in such a conflict with one of our best fighters is a question that answers itself.
View all comments (15) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Roger Kaplan
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/12/11/does-egypt-need-advance-aircra
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ncatty| 12.11.12 @ 1:08PM
The referenced announcement details that Egypt already has 200 F-16s, and that this order for 20 more was approved as part of the US foreign aid package to Egypt, approved in 2010. Lockheed-Martin is very happy. I am not.
RAM| 12.11.12 @ 1:27PM
The best answer for Egypt and for regional peace is a new non-dictatorial government there with no ties to the Muslim Brotherhood or other nazis. Arming the maniacal thugs now in power makes no sense except to them and their arms suppliers.
Al Adab| 12.11.12 @ 1:47PM
Seems the current administration has a problem with enemy identification.
Or is it that they simply believe that all problems in the world are the result of American power and arrogance?
spike59| 12.12.12 @ 6:20AM
more the latter than the former
RJ| 12.11.12 @ 3:00PM
Who says we can't find areas of the Federal budget (assuming that they had one in the last three years) to reduce spending, including reductions in the defense budget?
Being a US taxpayer these days is like having your credit card, with no limit, in the hands of a lunatic and you can't cancel it.
Occam's Tool| 12.11.12 @ 6:05PM
Fly them loaded with tacnukes to Egypt. Drop tacnukes, then go home.
c. j. acworth| 12.12.12 @ 9:17AM
What sort of viruses can be embedded in the software that controls these planes? It might be handy to be able to take them over someday.
Or tell Israel how to do it.
The Manchurian F-16's!
Dean| 12.12.12 @ 11:27AM
And none dare call it treason..............
Oldefarte| 12.11.12 @ 7:21PM
American Jews voted 86% for Obama in 2008 and 69% for him this year.......I hope that they understand slightly by this how detrimental this is toward the state of Israel. If not, then maybe when the Muslim Brotherhood net becomes even tighter surrounding Israel, they will eventually awaken to how anti-Israel that this administration truly is [and has been all along]. Sad, truly sad!!!!!!!!!!!
BD57| 12.13.12 @ 7:42AM
69% of American Jews don't care what happens to Israel.
Dean| 12.12.12 @ 11:25AM
Seeing how todays wars are to a large degree economic......and our president is trying to run our economy into the ground.......and Egypt just voted Shiria law into effect.....and our govt. is giving these weapons to Egypt......get the picture....duh.
wombat1| 12.12.12 @ 11:41AM
Given the demonstrated military incompetence of Arab Armed Forces over the last 40 years or so, I would not be particularly nervous over a few fighter planes here or there.
If the material in question were WMDs, portable rockets, or something else that could be used in a hit-and-run sneak attack, that would be cause for alarm.
But conventional munitions and equipment? Don't sweat the load. Time and again the Arabs have proven that they're worthless in a stand-up fight.
J.C.Eaton| 12.12.12 @ 1:02PM
The whole outfit running this country is simply shit nuts.
Intelligent Design| 12.12.12 @ 6:13PM
This must be what Obama promised the Muslim Brotherhood in exchange for its yanking the leash of Hamas, its subsidiary terrorist organization. Giving F-16's to Morsi / Egypt is like giving weapons to Hitler.
Marc Jeric| 12.13.12 @ 2:42AM
2) Obama’s program called Arab Spring was designed to bring jihadist governments to Muslim countries. It has succeeded so far in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. It is designed to do the same in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Coupled with the existing jihadist governments in Sudan, Turkey, and Iran, the program will be able to eliminate Israel, to exterminate all the Jews there, and thus to produce the final state of peace in the Middle East. Obama will then be ready to accept his second Nobel Peace prize. That is the reason for the Benghazi murder coverup.