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The Spectacle Blog
As noted about a month ago in this space, the controversial policy of equipping the Egyptian air force with F-16s will proceed, with the full blessing of the State Department, according to the Washington Free Beacon, which picked up the latest of this long-simmering story from FoxNews.
State, according to the Free Beacon, is eager for the deal to close because it will enhance “U.S. security interests.” Deal to close is putting if very liberally, since it is certain who the mark in this deal is: the U.S. taxpayer. The “foreign aid,” as State qualifies it, includes as well 200 Abrams tanks, the Free Beacon reports.
The idea that advanced aircraft in the hands of a Islamist regime enhances U.S. security is bizarre. The only possible use of these air craft and tanks is to enhance the power of a government in Cairo that hates us, that hates our only regional ally, Israel, and that shares the philosophy of organizations, such as the Palestinian Hamas, that our government has defined as “terrorist.”
It behooves senators in the upcoming confirmation hearings for the top international affairs positions to ask the president’s nominees how this massive arms transfer serves U.S. interests.
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More Blog Posts by Roger Kaplan
http://spectator.org/blog/2013/01/23/too-much-brotherhood
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Mike G| 1.23.13 @ 7:35PM
"It behooves senators in the upcoming confirmation hearings for the top international affairs positions to ask the president’s nominees how this massive arms transfer serves U.S. interests."
Don't hold your breath.
Dimitry_Aleksandrovich| 1.23.13 @ 8:00PM
As President Eisenhower warned, "Beware of the Military Industrial Complex". U.S. based defense companies don't care who they sell to as long as they are turning a profit. Tomorrow they will turn around and sell the Israelis even more advanced military hardware.
Bob K| 1.23.13 @ 11:01PM
F16s are made by Lockheed Martin headquartered in Bethesda, Md. It has 120,000 employees nationwide. The F16 originally was built in Ft. Worth, Texas.
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/.....s-high.jpg
The Abrams Tanks are made in Lima, Ohio which is in Republican Jim Jordan's congressional district.
Everybody is in this together.
Dimitry_Aleksandrovich| 1.24.13 @ 2:45AM
When I had to get a Transportation Workers Identification Credential (a Federal ID granting clearance to US ports and refineries, etc) I had to cut a check not to Uncle Sam but to Lockheed Martin. They do the background checks and maybe even print the Federal ID cards. Lockheed is into everything and its frightening the kind of influence they have in government and the personal information of private citizens that they have access to through government contracts.
Dai Alanye | 1.24.13 @ 8:17AM
It isn't the manufacturers who are making this policy but an administration hopeful of advancing Islamic interests in preference to those of America. And who lives right next door to Egypt? Obama's pet hate and our putative ally, Israel.
Occam's Tool| 1.23.13 @ 8:43PM
I have no objection to Israel getting the very latest technology and torture testing it for us, as they do. But there is no purpose to giving it to Islamist thugs.
spike59| 1.24.13 @ 5:40AM
Unless you're a Prog/Lib/Dem; then it makes PERFECT sense to give this technology to Israel's adversaries
Bob Grant| 1.23.13 @ 9:36PM
Example number 57 that we are currently living in The Rabbit Hole.
Advanced aircraft and weaponry to what will soon be another Islamic Caliphate is pure insanity. And that aircraft is to defend against Whom?
RAM| 1.24.13 @ 12:05PM
This only works if the planes don't.
Bob K| 1.24.13 @ 7:34PM
LOL!