Why Obama killed the F-22
At the Weekly Standard blog, John Noonan links this article from the Washington Post about the length to which the Obama administration went to try to kill funding for the F-22 raptor fighter jet (pictured). Noonan then asks why the administration fought so furiously against the jet. Raising an objection to F-22 acquisition is one thing, launching a Napoleonic campaign -- over the objections of both Congress and the military -- is excessive. There were some serious, deeply intelligent strategic thinkers who had some equally serious, intelligent justifications for building a larger fleet of Raptors. Considering the fighter's admittedly steep price is but a drop in the health care/stimulus bucket, it's a little hard to believe the administration's only motivation was to eliminate waste in the defense budget.I believe that one reason the administration killed the F-22 was to keep it out of Israel's hands. Israel coveted the F-22 for its potential uses against Iran. The Obama administration does not want Israel attacking Iran regardless of what Iran does with its nuclear program. So it killed the program.
Now Israel will have to wait until 2016 for the F-35, which means that Iran will be nuclear unless Israel finds another way to stop it. Additionally, Israel has been forced to forfeit its technological advantages regarding the F-35.
Am I being paranoid? You can decide. I don't believe I am being paranoid.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:51 AM
6 Comments:
Carl,
Has the possibility of an inside job been raised? Does Israel have many undercover agents in Iran that could destroy the nuclear facilities from within?
Had Israel built its own fighter, the American cancellation of the F-22 would have had no effect. I wonder if the lesson has sunk in Jerusalem.
What could go wrong indeed
I think you're being paranoid because the US could have simply found a way to void its contractual obligations to Israel without canceling the entire project. Baby/bathwater sort of thing.
In all honesty, Obama has no idea how he is overall crippling America's military and strategic defenses.
On second thought, maybe Obama does have an idea. Or am I just being paranoid?
Is it time to finally resurrect Israeli fighter designs like Lavi? At this point the financial advantage of buying American jets with the aid money might not be relevant.
Eric.
The F-22 was never considered to be exported. It is a Fighter for the US only. The Pentagon and DoD made it clear that NO other nation will have the F-22. I don't think there is any obligation between Israel and the US to trade Fighter Technologies. On the other hand, they canceled the program because the F-35 is cheaper and has better avionics and there is no immediate threat to the United States.
Afterall we have 147 operational F-22's.
Israel does not need F-22's. In 1980, they bombed Iraq's Osirak (Operation Opera) nuclear plant with F-15's and they could simply use those fighter-bombers to do the job again. Trouble is, they should have done it TEN years ago, when the warnings about Iran began to appear.
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