Maybe They Could Have A Bake Sale
[Note: Sorry this is late, folks, but the power was off in my building when I got up this morning. Showering in the dark is trickier than I remembered.]
I guess the US Air Force has taken a page from the current administration's handbook for managing the US public, at least that's the conclusion I drew from this article in today's Los Angeles Times.
The Air Force will probably order dozens of its F-15 fighter jets permanently grounded because of crucial structural flaws, significantly reducing the number of planes available to protect the United States, officials said Tuesday. [Emphasis added]
OMG! We're doomed! There will be dozens fewer planes patrolling the skies to keep us safe from the unholy jihadists determined to bomb us into the stone age and then to enslave us! Quick! Somebody do something, like make sure we get an extra hundred or so new jets that are so far over-budget that even the Secretary of Defense has a few qualms about it.
Another senior Air Force official said the problems with the F-15 showed an "enhanced imperative" to purchase additional F-22 aircraft. The Air Force has said it needs 381 F-22s, although the Pentagon has approved the acquisition of only 183.
"We have to examine not only if we need the full 381 aircraft, but do we need them faster?" the Air Force official said.
The F-22 has cost billions to develop since it was conceived in the 1980s and remains a controversial plane. Critics have long charged that it is overpriced and was designed for a Cold War threat that no longer exists.
Ah, the F-22, the answer to all our problems. So what if the unit cost was calculated in about 2004 at about $300 million, we need 381 of them, and STAT!
Yes, the F-15s have some severe structural problems, and, yes, many of them have to be grounded permanently, but the F-22 is not the answer.
What is? Well, the later model F-15s ("a" through "e") have proven their serviceability in Iraq. Maybe if they weren't deployed there, they could be brought home "to keep us safe." The days of carte blanche for the war machine have to end, and should have ended years ago. If the economy is the main issue for this election (stupid), then let's start here.
Morons.
I guess the US Air Force has taken a page from the current administration's handbook for managing the US public, at least that's the conclusion I drew from this article in today's Los Angeles Times.
The Air Force will probably order dozens of its F-15 fighter jets permanently grounded because of crucial structural flaws, significantly reducing the number of planes available to protect the United States, officials said Tuesday. [Emphasis added]
OMG! We're doomed! There will be dozens fewer planes patrolling the skies to keep us safe from the unholy jihadists determined to bomb us into the stone age and then to enslave us! Quick! Somebody do something, like make sure we get an extra hundred or so new jets that are so far over-budget that even the Secretary of Defense has a few qualms about it.
Another senior Air Force official said the problems with the F-15 showed an "enhanced imperative" to purchase additional F-22 aircraft. The Air Force has said it needs 381 F-22s, although the Pentagon has approved the acquisition of only 183.
"We have to examine not only if we need the full 381 aircraft, but do we need them faster?" the Air Force official said.
The F-22 has cost billions to develop since it was conceived in the 1980s and remains a controversial plane. Critics have long charged that it is overpriced and was designed for a Cold War threat that no longer exists.
Ah, the F-22, the answer to all our problems. So what if the unit cost was calculated in about 2004 at about $300 million, we need 381 of them, and STAT!
Yes, the F-15s have some severe structural problems, and, yes, many of them have to be grounded permanently, but the F-22 is not the answer.
What is? Well, the later model F-15s ("a" through "e") have proven their serviceability in Iraq. Maybe if they weren't deployed there, they could be brought home "to keep us safe." The days of carte blanche for the war machine have to end, and should have ended years ago. If the economy is the main issue for this election (stupid), then let's start here.
Morons.
Labels: Terra Terra Terra
posted by Diane at 2:24 PM
1 Comments:
Great. Now they're trying to scare us into something else we don't need. Billions more tax dollars down the drain. No wonder they want 'perpetual war'. It's the only way to keep the military-industrial complex fed.
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