As Iran teetered on the brink of revolution, the Carter administration transferred approximately 70 F-14 fighter jets to the Iranian air force. At the time, the F-14 was perhaps the top platform in the U.S. Air Force, a plane upon which a generation of American air defense rested. It is ironic that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Air Force is today the only country that actively uses the F-14, although some U.S. National Guard units do also occasionally fly the plane.
Alas, President Obama appears determined to repeat Jimmy Carter’s mistakes. Giving Turkey the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is bad enough. While Turkey was part of the consortium that built the fuselage, what Turkey now demands is the software codes and keys to the technology which make that fighter jet the platform upon which the next generation of American air power will rest.
As Daniel Pipes rightly points out, the statement by U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson is a must read for just how out of touch the Obama administration and the State Department have become on Egypt. In an article for COMMENTARY in October 2012, I examined how the West has whitewashed Islamism and gotten the Muslim Brotherhood wrong. No one doubts the organization’s early radicalism. In his 1964 manifesto Ma’alim fi al-Tariq (“Milestones”), influential Brotherhood theoretician Sayyid Qutb urged violent jihad to return Egypt and other majority Muslim lands to his ideals of purity. By doing so, he paved the intellectual route for Abdullah Azzam, Osama Bin Laden, and current al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Hassan Banna’s successor as leader of the Muslim Brotherhood was Hassan al-Hudaybi. He was long overshadowed by Qutb, but used Qutb’s 1966 execution as an opportunity to shift the Muslim Brotherhood’s approach. He published Du’at la Qudat (“Preachers, Not Judges”) that refuted Qutb’s radicalism. Largely on the basis of Hudaybi’s writing, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Western apologists say the Brotherhood has evolved, denounced violence, and shed its ideological rigidity.
Mohamed Morsi, however, should definitively end this debate. If Anne Patterson truly believes that Egypt can “continue to serve as a force for peace, security, and leadership as the Middle East proceeds with its challenging yet essential journey toward democracy,” and that arming Morsi, who prays for the eradication of world Jewry and embraces the most ridiculous conspiracy theories, will help Egypt toward that goal, then something has gone terribly wrong in Foggy Bottom.
whose enemies? n nObviously they are not HIS enemies!
Took the words right out of my keyboard. He's not arming HIS enemies.
To find out what Muslim Brotherhood really is (to fully appreciate just how Chamberlainesque the entire Obama administration really is) go to web site The Investigative Project on Terrorism. Click on section "groups and individuals". You will find Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi. Also, don't forget to check out Muslim Brotherhood USA groups such as Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAc) and Islamic Socieity of North America (ISNA) . When you find out what MB USA is up to and how Obama Administration collaborates with these types at every turn, you will realize just how Quisling like Team Obama really is. Many of these groups are unidicted co-conspirators in the Hamas terror funding Holy Land Foundation case. Even though there is pley of evidence to indict, Holder is refusing to do so. As I said, Chamberlainesque is too kind a description for the Obama Administration. Quisling-like is more apt.
Are you certain the F-35JSF program is going to actually survive? n nAs for Egypt? They made it clear to A-jad that the GCC is Egypt's #1 priority. Too soon to tell when Egypt's army will have to take control, and that is not the same as what happened in Iran 1979.
nWhat is GCC?
GCC are the Gulf kingdoms. forget what the CC stands for . n nand, Israel complained maybe two years ago that Turkey was transfering drone technology to Hezbollah. n nbut, the F35JSF is such a technology-plagued program that I do not think it will really survive.
Gulf Cooperation Council.
If by U.S. Air Force you mean warplanes flying with U.S. insignia, then you're correct. But the F-14 Tomcat was a swing-wing fighter that flew from Navy carriers and intended, with its supersonic Phoenix missiles, to shoot down Soviet Backfire bombers and the ship-killer missiles they fired.
Reuters surprisingly had balanced coverage of A-jad's "get your Shi'a face out of Sunni lands" (which, btw, seemed very focussed on Bahrain), which you would not guess just with the NYT's headline of same events. n n
The "U. S. National Guard" (which does not exist, there are state Army and Air National Guards) never flew the F-14. The US Navy, which did fly the F-14, has retired the type.
The term "National Guard of the US" and the related Army acronym "ARNGUS" are in use, but are usually applied to the full-time Title 10 cadre of National Guard Bureau. n nMore importantly, you are correct that the F-14 Tomcat is a Navy platform which the Air National Guard has never flown. The author is probably confusing the F-14 with the F-15 Eagle, which both the Air National Guard and the active component Air Force continue to fly.
Turkey is I believe a tier 2 partner which gives them license to manufacture certain airframe components. The real concern is them sending a complete aircraft to be examined by Iran and China. But as others have noted the last QLR (Quick Look Review) indicated at least 7 critical program killing design problems that MUST be rectified for it to proceed. It's already years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. I can appreciate how eager the IAF is to get their hands on them, but it may very well go down in flames. After all if Hagel gets the top job, his mission is to slash and burn the DoD budget and his boss doesn't like manned aircraft, having already killed the F-22. So there's a fairly good chance that Obama will kill this too. If I were Israel I'd be hedging my bets and looking to partner with South Korea and Japan for the next gen multirole aircraft one which is not so 5th Generation – something on par with the Dassault Rafale
Good info … question: What are we going to fly if the F35 doesn't get fixed.
I would take that projected investment and pour it into the development of jet powered stealth UAVs.
thanks for the info! so a mixed blessing for Turkey or even down the road revere engineers–but what is the program by program discretion to cancel projects (beloved by home state representatives) under the across the board cuts mandated by the sequestration which looks more likely to occur each passing day?
Many programs wind up getting cancelled; the A-12, the Zumwalt destroyer, the Crusader mobile artillery, The Seawolf submarine, the F-22. Not even the US has unlimited money to throw at programs with little chance of success and no well defined mission.
RAS743 & kennethpkatz: any thoughts on the mision value of the F35?
"…then something has gone terribly wrong in Foggy Bottom" nyou've just noticed?
I was not aware that Turkey is an enemy of the United States. The last time I checked they were an ally and a member of NATO. Just because Turkey aided a group that attempted to feed and provide medicine to Gaza does not make them an enemy of America. nAs for Egypt, also not an enemy of the United States, they have been getting US assistance in exchange for the peace treaty with Israel since Begin and Sadat met at Camp David. The money to Egypt is ransom paid by US taxpayers to ensure that Israel can continue settling the West Bank without having to worry about an attack on that front. I would have thought that the writers at Commentary would appreciate that.
"Why Is Obama Arming Enemies?" n nBecause he's on their side. Call it being "Kerry-esque". Or perhaps "Hegelian".
Your disgusting language, your racism and your ad homenim attack are all signs of a person who is unable to think or argue rationally. Do you think that addressing me as Mahmud and Achmed make you look clever? Do you think calling me an asshole(!) is some sort of exchange of ideas? Do you think that calling me liar without in any way showing a lie is argument? You are truly vile and though I hate to go here, you are also clearly stupid.
and you sir, are a blackguard and vile propagandist n nno way to discuss anything with you or your ilk, spewing outrageous lies n ntake your dreck to Al Jazeera n nheh
This is the second time that you have called me a liar, this time an outrageous liar, without pointing out a lie. Everyone can reads these posts. You are beginning to look foolish.
No, the lady nailed it. You are a vile propagandist. n nIt is conceivable that she is wrong, and that you are simply an idiot, but I think not. n nShe is usually right.
“Just because Turkey aided a group that attempted to feed and provide medicine to Gaza.”r nr nThis comment by CJK1955 indicates that this individual is a supporter of murderous terrorist vermin like Hamas, but pretends otherwise…….